Rainbow Dash woke up to the sun shining, birds singing, and the face of the purple alicorn in her hooves staring lovingly into Rainbow Dash’s eyes with a serene smile on her face.
“Good morning, sleepy.” Twilight gently nuzzled Dash’s muzzle with a smile.
“Twi,” Rainbow Dash yawned, stretching out her legs and then putting them right back across Twilight. “How are you feeling?”
“Well…” Twilight's smile grew wilder. “I just had the most embarrassing moment of my life, and then perhaps the best. I don’t feel sick anymore if that’s what you mean.”
“It was.” Rainbow Dash replied, pulling Twilight closer and closing her eyes with a happy sigh.
“Hey uh… Rainbow?” Twilight asked. Rainbow opened her eyes and gazed blearily at Twilight, whose ears were currently flattened against her skull and her eyes looking away. “Could you… do that thing you did to me last night again?”
Rainbow blinked, thinking hard about what Twilight meant. Rainbow Dash did lots of things last night.
“Oh!” Rainbow’s eyes widened. “This?”
Rainbow Dash planted a soft kiss at the base of Twilight’s horn. Twilight let out a small squeal and buried her face in Rainbow’s chest fluff. Rainbow bit her lip to prevent herself from ‘aww’ing out loud.
“Hey Twi?” She asked.
“Yes, Rainbow?” Twilight answered, voice muffled by the fluff.
“You’re cute.”
Twilight let out another small squee and nuzzled Rainbow’s breast. She resurfaced for air and stared straight into Rainbow’s eyes, gently resting her head so their noses almost touched.
“Hey Rainbow?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah?”
“You’re a stud.” Twilight lowered her voice for the ‘ud’ part, her blush ruining all chances she had at attempting to look suave.
“You,” Rainbow Dash gently pulled Twilight’s head closer with a forehoof, stopping just so their noses barely touched. Twilight’s blush deepened. “Are absolutely right.”
Twilight felt an insane urge to kiss Rainbow on the lips right then and there. They were not even two inches apart. Twilight could feel Rainbow’s hot breath brushing past her lips. But no, she told herself, it was too soon. Soon, but not now.
“So we’re really doing this, huh?” Rainbow grinned.
“We really are, Dashie.” Twilight grinned back. “But uh… what do we do now?”
“Um... well what time is it?”
Twilight thought for a moment. “I’d say probably about one in the afternoon.”
“Hm.” Rainbow stated.
“Hm?” Twilight responded.
“Well,” Rainbow Dash hesitated. “We should probably go pick up Scoots. And then… do you want to tell her?”
“I think I do.” Twilight smiled, pushing their noses even farther together. Then, after a moment’s pause, lifted her head and kissed Rainbow’s forehead. Rainbow felt her cheeks flush. “But first let’s cuddle for a few more minutes.”
“That’s something I can definitely get behind.”
“So what was the big news that had to wait until we got home?” Scootaloo asked, bouncing around and excitedly buzzing her wings.
Rainbow snuck a wing around Twilight and pulled her closer. “Are you ready to tell her?” She whispered. Twilight nodded.
“Scootaloo, your mother and I are...” Rainbow paused as Scootaloo stared at them with a giant smile, completely rapt. Rainbow decided to throw caution to the winds and leaned into Twilight, giving her a peck on the cheek, before pulling away and looking back at Scootaloo.
Scootaloo’s jaw dropped as she sank to haunches. Rainbow could almost hear the gears grinding in her head.
“You two are…” Scootaloo trailed off, staring wide eyed between Twilight and Rainbow.
“We’re together!” Twilight giggled. “As of last night! And you’re the first one we wanted to tell!”
Scootaloo’s shocked expression slowly morphed into a manic grin. “YES!” She screamed, throwing herself between the mares and pulling them into a hug, which both Twilight and Rainbow were happy to return.
“Ooh! What happened? I bet it was the best night ever!” Scootaloo squeed.
Rainbow and Twilight looked at each other before both bursting out in laughter.
“Oh Celestia no. It was awful!” Twilight wiped her eyes.
“Wha, but… I don’t understand.” Scootaloo frowned.
“Can I tell her?” Rainbow bit her lip to stop herself from grinning like a madmare.
Twilight smiled and nodded, resting her head on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“Wellll…” Rainbow started. “It all started when Twilight spilled her wine all over herself while trying to look cool.”
“Hey!” Twilight interjected. “I was so not trying to look cool!”
Rainbow chuckled. “She was completely trying to look cool.”
Twilight lifted her head to stick her tongue out at Rainbow, before resting her head on Rainbow’s shoulder and smiling again.
“Anyway, Twilight decided to get some mushroom ricotta.-”
“Risotto.”
“Mushroom ricotta.” Rainbow continued. “And soon she starts saying she feels sick. She keeps looking more and more uncomfortable as the dinner continues, and eventually we go to order dessert, and…” Rainbow trailed off, letting the dramatic tension build. Scootaloo’s pupils grew as she leaned forward, still smiling widely. “She tossed cookies all over the dessert, the table, the waitress and me. Turned out she had gotten food poisoning.”
Scootaloo shoved a hoof in her mouth to keep from giggling.
“And then she ran and hid in the bathroom. So me, being the awesome, empathetic, awesome, and awesome pony I am, I followed her and comforted her. She ended up admitting it was a date the whole time. And I, totally already knowing that, told her she was about a subtle as a slow motion train wreck. And then I…” Rainbow felt her cheeks getting pink. “I told her I liked her too. Then we came back here, she spent half the night leaning over the porcelain throne, and then we came and got you.”
By this time, Scootaloo had a star struck expression. She tightened the hug on the two mares.
“What about you, sweetie? How was your sleepover?” Twilight crooned, running a hoof through Scootaloo’s mane.
“Oh it was awesome! We had this really fancy dinner and DT got us to try caviar, which turned out being fish eggs. They were really salty too.” Scootaloo stuck her tongue out. “Then we played games the rest of the night. We went only a couple rounds of Monopoly, ‘cause DT kept finding ways to get all the railroads and bled us dry. She said she was playing the game of ‘attrition’ or something. Then we tried some other things. Turns out Applebloom and Silver Spoon both get really competitive, even in friendly games. So when they were inevitably the only two left the rest of us just kinda made fun of how worked up they got. It was great! Ever since Spoiled Milk left Diamond Tiara is so nice!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself, Scoot.” Twilight smiled, running a hoof down her withers. “You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”
“I mean… I call you ‘mom’ half the time, so I don’t really think I could say something against that even if I did care.” Scootaloo chucked.
The three sat there in a companionable silence until Scootaloo got bored. “So what now?” She asked.
Twilight frowned and looked at Rainbow. “Well…” She trailed off. “I saw Luna in my dream last night and… she told me to talk to Applejack.”
The smiles instantly disappeared from both Scootaloo’s and Rainbow Dash’s face.
“No!” Scootaloo squeaked. “I’m not going to see her!”
Rainbow’s face contorted into a silent snarl, fire burning in her eyes.
“You can stay here, Scoot.” Rainbow hissed. “I’m going with Twilight.”
“Rainbow!” Twilight was taken aback. “Cal-”
“I’m not going to calm down. You saw and heard what Applejack did to Scootaloo.”
The mares didn’t move for several moments, eyes locked on each other. Twilight desperately wanted to tell Rainbow to stay home, her unabated anger was just going to make things worse, but she couldn't. She didn’t want to risk their brand new relationship on this.
“Pinkie Promise me you won’t hurt her?” Twilight finally asked.
“I can’t just…”
Twilight lowered her head, stuck out her bottom lip, and made her best attempt at puppy eyes. She saw Rainbow wither instantly.
“Well… okay.” Rainbow managed, crossing her hoof in a X in front of her breast and then covering her left eye with it, frowning. She walked past Twilight, unable to help but brush against her side just a little. “Let’s get this over with.”
The fly over to the farm hadn’t done much to calm Rainbow down. In fact the closer they got to it, the higher Rainbow’s hackles raised, and the harder she was gritting her teeth.
Twilight spotted Big Mac and Applejack bucking trees in the same clearing, and flew down to see them.
“Applejack!” Twilight called out.
The cowpony peered into the sky, smiling as she saw Twilight. Her smile lessened when she spotted Rainbow. It disappeared entirely as she saw the look on Rainbow’s face.
“Mornin’ Twi, Dash. What can I do for y’all?” Applejack walked up to them.
“Well…” Twilight started out awkwardly, having been more focused on Rainbow Dash than how to initiate conversation. “I thought after all that happened recently, we should talk. I wanted to thank you for all you did that night. I don’t want to think what could have happened if you weren’t there.”
“Aw shucks, weren’t no thang.” Applejack smiled, wiping her brow. “To be honest, Rarity was actually doing a much better job than I’d have expected. Couple of rocks and apples magically sent into the temple? I’m surprised she only took one out. Got a new respect for that pony now.”
Twilight chuckled. “You can say that again. Anyways, while I’m here I just wanted to check if my actions… had any auxiliary effects.”
Catching sight of the scene, Big Mac strutted over the mares, a bit concerned for Applejack’s sake. This was made worse when Rainbow Dash glared at him with a look of pure hatred.
Rainbow Dash had never had much of a stance on Big Mac, never really having spoken to him much. Staring at his large form, Rainbow Dash wondered if Scootaloo had downplayed how much Big Mac had hurt her.
Applejack shot up an eyebrow at Twilight. “Aux- oh hay, Princess Luna spoke to you, didn’t she?
Twilight stared at the ground. “Yes. She did. I’m really sorry Applejack, I didn’t mean to scare you. You know I would never hurt you, or anybody else. It’s just after all he did…”
Applejack raised Twilight’s gaze to meet hers. “It’s fine, sugarcube. I won’t pretend I’m in any state to say who does and doesn’t deserve… comeuppance, but I know exactly where your heart was. And I know we’re all completely safe around you.”
“Shame we can’t say the same for you.” Rainbow Dash muttered.
Applejack locked eyes with Rainbow. “Come again, Rainbow?”
“I said,” Rainbow hissed, stalking toward Applejack. “It’s a shame we can’t say that for you. In fact, there’s a sweet, innocent filly who’s absolutely terrified of you and Big Mac. One that’s decided she never wants to see you again. An abused filly that just saw her abuser come back from the shadows and saw her protector taken out in an instant. You know what Twilight said? She wasn’t sure if I was alive when she saw me. What if Scootaloo had the same thing running through her mind?”
Rainbow found herself subconsciously taking to the air, flapping just above Applejack’s head.
“But you didn’t care. Your brute of a brother injured her when she was trying to find me, and she punched Applebloom to escape. Applebloom instantly forgave her. But YOU have the NERVE to round on a filly in the MIDDLE of a panic attack and scream at her until she triggers a PTSD episode.” Rainbow was yelling now. “You know who pulled her out of the episode? Applebloom. The entire entire reason you were screaming at her. A FOAL was more mature than you, and now whenever Scootaloo looks at you she just sees another abuser!”
Applejack removed her hat and placed it on her breast. More and more uncomfortable, Big Mac took his place at Applejack’s side.
“Rainbow, I told you this right before you picked Scootaloo up, why are you so much angrier now?”
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and landed. “Because of him-” She pointed her hoof at Big Mac. “And because I had to listen to one of the most important parts of my life sob uncontrollably while telling me how scared she is of you.” Rainbow Dash started stomping toward Applejack, an intense fire in her eyes.
“That’s enough!” Big Mac commanded, moving between the two mares, sinking to his haunches, and holding his forehooves out in a protective stance. “I think you two should leave. Now.”
Rainbow whipped around, catching sight of the nervous look on Twilight’s face. The same nervous look she had seen often on Scootaloo’s face. The filly that would likely never be able to recover fully. The poor sweet filly that was forever marred because of the heartless actions of ponies.
No. She wasn’t just gonna leave.
With a snort, she reared onto her front hooves and sent both of her hindlegs straight into Big Mac’s diaphragm. The stallion let out a wheeze and fell onto his back.
“Rainbow!” Twilight gasped.
“That was for Scootaloo.” Rainbow spat. “Not so fun when the horseshoe is on the other hoof, huh?
“That was too far Rainbow!” Applejack yelled, getting in Rainbow’s face and pushing her back. ”I get you're upset, but you don’t get to hurt my family!”
But it was too late. The line had been crossed. Something inside Rainbow had snapped.
“AND YOU” Rainbow screamed in Applejack’s face, forcefully grabbing her and taking off, soaring into the air. “DON’T GET TO HURT MINE.”
“Rainbow, no!” Twilight cried.
Rainbow Dash watched as all the color drained from Applejack’s face as she looked down. They were easily a hundred feet in the air. Applejack looked back at Rainbow, no longer angry. She looked… was that fear in her eyes?
At this point the adrenaline had started wearing off, and Rainbow started realizing what she had just done. Her pupils shrank and her ears flattened against her head. As Applejack looked down again she started shaking, wrapping her forehooves tightly around Rainbow Dash. Applejack’s breathing picked up exponentially.
“Oh my… I’m sorry. I…” Rainbow muttered, descending and touching hoof on the grass, letting go of Applejack, who instantly stumbled backwards. “I…”
Applejack was still white as a ghost. Rainbow’s bottom lip quivered and her eyes misted. She turned tail and flew away as fast as she could.
“Rainbow!” Twilight called after her. “Wait!”
It had been an hour. An hour since Rainbow had crossed the line. An hour since she threatened, and nearly ended one of her best friend’s lives. She was still shaking.
Rainbow had flown off and found perhaps the last place she wanted to find on the farm. The Crusader clubhouse. The same place where Scootaloo had ended up living after she ran away, too scared to ask anybody for help. Too scared to ask her for help. She had failed as a sister. And now she was flying off the handle, and had probably scared Twilight. She had failed as a… whatever Twilight and Rainbow Dash were. Scootaloo would probably now be afraid of Dash too now. She had failed as a mother. And had probably made Scootaloo’s problems worse.
Rainbow Dash let out a wet sniffle as she felt a tear run down her cheek. She had failed as a pony. All she needed to do was to keep a naturally happy filly happy, and be there for her friend as she dealt with the moral rebounds of taking the life of literal garbage.
She had everything she could have wanted just two hours ago, and she had ruined them all.
“Rainbow?”
Rainbow’s ears pivoted to the sound. She slowly turned her head to see Twilight. She was biting her lower lip, eyebrows knitted together in concern.
Rainbow Dash didn’t deserve concern.
“Let me guess.” Rainbow snorted and wiped her nose, turning away from the alicorn. “You’re here to tell me we’re done. I screwed up too badly.”
There was a moment of silence, then Rainbow felt a pair of wings wrap around her. Twilight sat next to her and pulled Rainbow Dash into herself, so that Rainbow’s head was resting on her breast.
“No. Never. Why would you think that?” Twilight whispered.
“I screwed up so badly Twilight. I… I could have killed Applejack! I was mad but that was way too far! And I hurt Big Mac and I scared you and I....”
The floodgates burst. Rainbow threw her hooves around Twilight’s neck and started wailing. She shuddered as sobs wracked her body, slowly turning Twilight’s chest fur damp. She gripped Twilight so hard it actually started to hurt. She took a brief respite to take a couple deep breaths, then continued shivering and sobbing, wiping her nose on Twilight’s shoulder. Eventually she relaxed her grip and started sliding lower and lower on Twilight’s abdomen, until eventually the back of her head hit Twilight’s hind legs, and she was forced to look up and see Twilight’s reaction.
Rainbow Dash didn’t know what she expected, but it sure wasn’t a smile. Twilight had a half smile on her face, and her eyes showed nothing but sympathy and love.
Twilight gently brushed Rainbow’s mane out of her eyes, and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Let it all out.” She whispered.
“But… why?” Rainbow croaked. “I messed everything up. Why are you being nice to me? I almost killed Applejack. I…”
“Shh…” Twilight gently placed a hoof over Rainbow’s lips. “How often have you been an anchor for Scootaloo and me in the last… well, year? You were forced to be the perfect pony for an abused filly with PTSD and anxiety issues, and more recently, me. The princess that’s too terrified to even use magic. And you never complained. You spent that time being perfect for us, and you had all these emotions all bottled up. I’m just sorry I didn’t realize it sooner, we might have been able to avoid this.”
“Wait… you’re not angry? Or disappointed?” Rainbow’s lips trembled. “At all?”
“Oh believe me, I’m not happy that you acted the way you did. That was abhorrent and wrong. But I do understand why.”
“What about Applejack?” Rainbow asked, not at all sure she wanted to know the answer.
“She’s still shaken up. But we talked about it and she doesn’t hate you or anything. But I do think it’s gonna take a long time to mend your relationship fully. She’s waiting about half a mile back if you want to talk to her, but I won’t make you. Big Mac is okay too.”
“Are they angry?”
“Well… yes. They’re not gonna start any fights or anything like that, but like I said, it’ll take time to mend your relationship with them. They’re gonna be iffy for a while… so I think some space would do you guys good after today.” Twilight ran her hoof through Dash’s mane. “It’s a shame they don’t know the same Dashie I do.”
After a moment Rainbow clambered to her hooves, pulling Twilight into a hug.
“Twilight… I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thank you.”
Twilight eagerly returned the hug. “I feel the same way, Rainbow.”
Rainbow sighed into Twilight’s shoulder. “I guess I’ll go talk to Applejack now. Hopefully we can forgive each other at some point.”
As they pulled apart, Twilight studied Rainbow’s face and again had to stop herself from the intense urge to lock lips as she did. Rainbow’s eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she had tear tracks all over her face. Her fur was matted from sweat and tears. But, she had a demure smile on her face and love in her eyes.
She was beautiful.