//------------------------------// // Homeward Bound // Story: Even Rainbows Falter // by Pracca //------------------------------// The whistling of the brisk winter wind brought a sweet melody through the branches of the old Ponyville library. Rainbow Dash was circling her home, content to stay outside for just a little while longer. The melancholy beauty of it all was striking. She couldn’t say she was one to appreciate the subtler things in life, but she’d been trying to become a bit—what was it called—cultured, maybe, ever since she began dating Twilight. A simple enough compromise in her mind. If Twi was willing to put up with her thick-headed antics, the least she could do was try to minimize those moments, and make an effort to find some common ground in interests. Interests like astronomy. It made perfect sense, when she really thought about it. A pegasus was closer to the stars on any given day than any other pony; it seemed natural that they should try and figure out what, exactly, was up there. Though, to be frank with herself, she wasn’t particularly good at it. She landed in the little square outside her home, and looked up. Not a cloud in the sky could be found this night; winter nights tended to be clear like this around Ponyville lately. It was one of the new weather team’s little quirks. Right up in the sky she could identify Ursa Major, the most commonly known constellation, and namesake for the most obscenely large creature in Equestria. And right next to that was… well, really, she wasn’t sure. She’d spent more free time than she cared to admit poring over Twilight’s old manuals at night, but it felt hopeless; it just didn’t stick. Of course, the fact she was rip-roaring drunk likely didn’t help matters much either. She’d gotten a good cold wind against her on the long trip back, and by now her stupor had cooled into a fairly level buzz. But fully cognizant she was not. She began trotting up to the door, already feeling her heart sinking. A dim light shone through the bottom window. She had a welcoming committee. Rainbow was already cringing when she slowly swung the door open. Sure enough, on an armchair not far from the door sat Twilight Sparkle, a half-finished book in her lap and a once-unhappy expression dulled from fatigue. Dash’s booze-reddened face sported a guilty grin as she slowly pulled the door behind her. “Er… hey, Twi.” “Hey, Dash.” Twi parroted, with a particularly nasty tone. “Um… look, I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I swear it was just some harmless fun, please don’t be mad.” “Mad? Oh-ho, mad?” Twi asked, standing up. “Try ‘furious’. For one thing—“ Twilight was interrupted by the sound of skittering hooves on the floor, and before she knew what had happened Dash was blindsided by a leaping filly. “—Opal wouldn’t go to bed until you came home.” Rainbow Dash was trapped under the form of a young pegasus filly, not yet twelve, with a teal mane and blue-green coat. Three general’s stars of the Equestrian air force rested proudly on her flank, a particularly odd cutie mark for one so young. Rainbow often wondered what the little foal would grow up to be, but not at that moment; at that moment, Opal Dart was talking far too much to let anypony around her think. “Mom! Mom! Mom! You’re home! I’ve been waiting all day to tell you, you shoulda seen it! In recess today, I did the Triple Slingshot Corkscrew!” Rainbow’s mind was just addled enough that she wasn’t really certain that was a legitimate trick, but the enthusiasm of her daughter was infectious. The buzzed-up pegasus grinned from ear to ear, saying “Really? Awesome, Opal, gimme some hoof!” Opal smacked her hoof with her mother’s as commanded, and finally deigned to let her stand up. Though, just having the freedom didn’t mean much, as Dash still stumbled for a second before Twilight caught her, shaking her head in disappointment. The purple mare turned to her daughter, saying “There. You got to see her. Now please, go to bed and get some sleep before school.” “Aw, but I wanted to show mom the trick!” “You can show her tomorrow. Right now, you need to get to bed. And honestly? So do you,” she added, directing the last bit towards her wife. Opal glared at her mother for a second, but a glare back was all she needed to revert to obedience. Opal hug her head and slowly nodded, muttering “goodnight” before fluttering upstairs to her bed. That left Rainbow and Twilight alone, to discuss the happenings of the night. About five minutes later, Rainbow Dash was slumped over at her seat in the kitchen, clutching a quarter-empty mug of coffee. Twilight sat across from her, nearly as tired and several times as aggravated as she tried to extract what, precisely, had made her wife so late. “I thought this was just a meeting, how in the hay did you wind up sticking around until two in the morning?” “Well… it’s kinda complicated.” Rainbow said, scratching the back of her neck with a hoof. She found it difficult to articulate, but gave a rough sequence of events, leading from her arrival to Spitfire stepping down officially. “…and after that, y’know, who just turns down an offer like that? So we stayed, and we chatted, and we had a few drinks.” “A few?” “…Okay. A lot of drinks. And then, well, when everypony else left, Spits asked me to stay a while longer.” Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Why’s that?” Rainbow took another sip of her coffee. “Um… well, as it turns out, she wanted me to be the new Captain. So I said yeah, sure, and—“ “Whoa whoa whoa. Hold it. You said yes?” Twilight asked, with an incredulous expression. Rainbow looked back at her with a bewildered face. “Well, duh. I mean, we’re kinda talking about my life’s dream, Twilight. How do I say no to that?” Twilight’s brow twitched in its furrowed state. “Well, one I can think of is, ‘thanks, but I’ve got a family to think about’.” Rainbow leaned forward, and said “I did say that.” “Didn’t mean much when it came down to the wire, though, did it?” Twilight asked, leaning forward as well. They were only about eight inches away from each other, in silence for a few moments. Then, Rainbow started to giggle. Twilight blinked a few times, confused. “What’s so funny?” Rainbow covered her mouth as she suppressed another laugh. Her buzzed blush, still present, grew even redder. “You’re kinda cute when you’re mad.” Twilight leaned back, immediately responding with a flushed face of her own, to Rainbow’s amusement. The pegasus continued to laugh, slumping over in her chair as the unicorn struggled to maintain her composure. “I-I am not! I mean, wait—darn it Rainbow, we’re supposed to be fighting!” She leaned over in her chair, unable to stop herself from laughing along for a moment. When the giggles finally settled down, Twilight looked at the mare across the table pleadingly. “Look, Rainbow, I don’t want to make a big blow-up over this, but can you at least understand where I’m coming from? This is a huge responsibility to take on, especially with all these dates coming up. So doing it without even talking with me about it is kind of irritating.” “I know.” Rainbow replied. “And really, I am sorry I didn’t talk with you about it first. It just got sprung on me, y’know? And when your foalhood idol asks you something like that out of the blue, you… you don’t really think.” “I understand.” Twilight finally said, smiling. “But are you sure you can handle it?” Dash chuckled and made a sweeping motion with her hoof. “Totally, Twi. Don’t sweat it; I’ve got Soarin to do all the paperwork, and since I’m my own boss, I set the hours.” She leaned over and kissed her wife on the nose. “That means I have all the time in the world for whatever we want.” Twilight beamed and nuzzled Rainbow back. “Sounds perfect.” “So, we’re all good then? Made up and happy?” Rainbow asked. “Mmm… yes, I suppose. For now.” “Good,” Rainbow said. “because between the booze and the flirting, I’ve had one thing on my mind since I got home, and I was really starting to worry I’d be getting the couch instead.” The distance Twilight’s mouth dropped was really rather modest, but in Rainbow’s addled mind it had just punched through the floor. “Well, that’s… blunt!” The pegasus’ eyes narrowed, and her lips sported a shamelessly dirty grin. “You know you love blunt.” Several hours later, a quiet calm had finally descended in their home. Both mares were snugly in bed, Rainbow Dash looking like the happiest pony alive with a thin layer of sweat on her brow, and a radiant smile stretching her face even as she slept. Twilight was worse off. She tossed and turned on her sides, her mind filled to the brim with images she did not understand. A rippling skyline with colors she couldn’t comprehend, a mountaintop belching smoke over its tip, but worse of all was the sound. A screech, pervading every corner of her mind. SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK Twilight’s eyes shot open, and her head raised off of her pillow. She was breathing heavily, as if she had reached the end of a long marathon. The room was cool, a cracked window letting in a smidgen of winter air. The purple mare, content with the realization nothing was wrong, wiped the sweat off of her face and looked to her side. The blissful face of her wife was all she needed to calm her down that night. She settled back in, and drifted off quickly. “—so then he said that flight sucks, and couldn’t do half the stuff magic could; so he’d sooner die than accept a pegasus’ help before a unicorn. SO, me an’ Scoots flew him up to the top of town hall, and left him!” Opal Dart was cracking up with tales of her own mischief, particularly directed towards the class brat, Goldenboy. She was wiping away a tear and barely suppressing laughter. “T-they had to call in the weather team, a-and when one of them tried to help him, he yelled at them. So one of ‘em kicked him off the roof, onto the trampoline they were holding!” Opal finally lost it, and buried her head into the kitchen table, pounding a hoof as she guffawed. Next to her, a very exhausted Rainbow Dash cringed, her headache being twisted in further and further like a knife every time her daughter spoke. Hangovers were killer. “Y-yeah.” Rainbow stammered, trying to sound interested. “That’s great, Opal. Awesome. So, er, shouldn’t you be heading to school?” “Eh, I got a minute.” Opal replied, glancing at the clock before shrugging. Dash had to resist the urge to groan out loud. Across the table, Twilight was sitting with a book open, reading out several questions to the dragon in the chair beside her. Spike clacked his claws on the wood in a bored manner. “C’mon, Twilight, I already know all this stuff!” The little purple dragon protested. Though, he was no so little anymore, easily the height of either grown mare present, with somewhat gangly arms and a somewhat elongated snout. He was growing into an adult dragon at a fast rate. “Just a few more questions, Spike. Let’s go over the Dewdrop Decimal System one more time…” Spike droned out answer after answer to every question given. He had no clue why Twilight was so obsessed with making him learn all this junk, lately, but it had been growing on his nerves. None of this was even his job, why did he have to know it? Of course, Twilight thought to herself, that’s precisely why he needed to know it. It was his job yet, but one day it would be. She loved her books, and she loved her job, but she had no illusions of doing this for the rest of her life. And even if she did, it was only practical to have a replacement; one as long-lived as a dragon was about as practical you could get. And thus, her number-one assistant had ben unknowingly drafted into the exciting world of librarians. “So…” Opal began, trailing off as she considered her words. “…you and mom’ve been keeping up with the calendar, right?” “Yeah, I guess? Why?” Rainbow asked. It was entirely for the filly’s benefit. Even with her head throbbing like a jackhammer, she knew precisely what the filly was aiming towards with this conversation. “Well, I mean, I don’t mean to interrupt your busy schedules and all, but I was seeing some pretty cool-looking dates coming up, right? And it’d be a shame if nothing was going on on days as cool as these, so..” Rainbow groaned, and looked at her wife pleadingly. “Twi, can I just tell her?” The purple mare relented, nodding silently. The pegasus mare grinned, replying with much enthusiasm “Your party’s in four days. Twi already picked out some invitations to hand out; you can do that tomorrow, ‘kay?” “OK!” Opal cheered, hopping out of her seat with a gleeful expression. Dash relented and gave a reserved, but genuine smile as she picked up the filly’s backpack and handed it to her. She looked back at Twilight. “I’m gonna walk Opal out.” “All right.” Twilight said, looking up from her book. Spike took his moment of opportunity and scurried outside to go find something more fun to do. The purple mare continued, “By the way, I was thinking about lunch. We haven’t tried that new grill yet, so I was wondering if—“ “Er, sorry, Twi.” Rainbow replied, hoofing at the ground nervously and avoiding eye contact. “I… kinda have practice today. First day as Captain and all, so I can’t really afford to miss it.” She trotted forward quickly and pecked the unicorn on the cheek. “I’ll catch up with ya tonight, OK?” Before Twilight could even respond, though, Rainbow was back at the door, holding it open for Opal. “Hustle, Squirt, or you’re gonna be late for class again!” Opal sprinted out the door, and Rainbow looked back to shout “Bye, Twilight!” just a moment before slamming it shut behind her. And then, all was silent in the library. Twilight felt the loneliness of the place creeping up on her. “Well, all right then. So, uh, Spike, where were we—“ Oh. He was gone too. Twilight Sparkle sighed, gently shutting her book and placing it beside her. She leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes for a moment.