//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: All Together Now // Story: Afterparty // by FlutteringLillies //------------------------------// “Found it!” Rainbow called from the master bedroom. She was face down on the carpeted floor, stretching her hand under one of the charcoal gray end tables. She had no memory of her phone falling there, and no idea how it could have gotten there otherwise. Her pants had been several feet away when she’d picked them up that morning. It didn’t matter much now that she was securely snatching the phone from the floor. She just hoped it hadn’t been damaged in last night’s misadventures. She flexed her muscles and twisted her body back up into a sitting position, phone in hand. Fluttershy’s name and picture still flashed on the screen, but Dash was more interested in looking for cracks. She turned the phone this way, then that, and finding none, hit the end call button. She rose to her full height then, stepping out of the room, device held aloft triumphantly. “Where was it?” Fluttershy asked from the bottom of the stairs. Applejack, large trash bag in hand, stopped to hear the answer too. “Under the nightstand. Not sure how it ended up there, but it isn’t broken so,” she shrugged dismissively. “Are ya gonna call Sunset?” Applejack asked. Rainbow watched as Fluttershy rapidly shook her head, but it had already been asked and it wasn’t like Fluttershy was hiding her attempt at dissuasion. Still, Applejack rubbed at her neck with one hand and averted her eyes. “Whups. Never mind. Forget I said anything.” Rainbow sighed. “Yeah I’m gonna call her, okay? Up here. So you girls can’t-'' her phone, still in hand, blasted out a couple guitar riffs. Each girl froze. Then their friend’s voice followed the electric notes. Power. Was all I desired. But all that grew inside me was a darkness I acquired. Rainbow tilted her eyes down at the screen, blinking in disbelief as she looked at Sunset’s smiling bright face. “Well? Pick it up, Dashie!” Fluttershy insisted. “B-But… what do I say?” “Say what we talked about! Tell her the truth! About what you want and how you’re feeling.” Fluttershy encouraged. “But…” “Girl, if you don’t pick up that damn phone then I will.” Applejack said flatly. Rainbow hit the accept call button. “Hey Rainbow.” They all heard Sunset say into the empty, silent air. Dash looked at Fluttershy, she waved her hands in a ‘go on’ sort of gesture. “Rainbow Dash?” They all heard Sunset say again. Rainbow scrambled to put the phone up to her ear. “Heyyy Sunset.” She rasped into the receiver.  “Phew. I’m glad you actually picked up.” “You are?” Rainbow said without really thinking that question through. “Of course I am Dash! I-“ Sunset stopped suddenly, almost as if she cut herself off from finishing that thought. “I wanted to talk to you.” “Okay.” “In person. If that’s alright.” “Oh. Right. Yeah. Okay yeah.” Dash nodded along. That made sense. This wasn’t really an over the phone kind of conversation. “Can you meet me at CHS?” Rainbow frowned a little. She just expected Sunset to come back here. Then her eyes wandered to the bottom of the stairs. Fluttershy and Applejack were still looking at her curiously. At this point, Twilight had joined in too, looking slightly perplexed for a moment, before it dawned on her who Dash was probably talking to.  No, Sunset had the right idea. “I’ll be there.” She said definitively. Then, after a pause. “When?” “As soon as you can get here?”  Rainbow barely noticed the hesitant lilt in her voice. Instead, she walked back into the master bedroom and searched for her van keys. They hadn’t been in her pants either, but this time she luckily didn’t have to go scrounging for them. “Here? Are you already at CHS?” Rainbow asked as she swiped her keys off the nightstand and turned back toward the stairs. “Yeah. I…” Sunset cut off again, a little bit longer of a pause this time. “It’s complicated. I’ll tell you about it when you get here, okay?” “Okay. Heading over now.” Dash said as she took the stairs two at a time. “Great.” Sunset said, and the relief in her voice made it clear that it really was. Dash smiled at that. “Be there soon.” Then she hit the end call button and rushed past her friends and toward the door. “Where're ya goin, Dash?” Applejack called after her. She opened the door and called back as she slipped out of it. “School!” Before the door could close all the way behind her, she whipped around and caught it with her elbow. She wasn’t surprised to see AJ heading toward her. “No following. This is between me and her, okay?” Applejack scowled, Fluttershy didn’t look super pleased either, but they both stopped and waved Dash out the door. Satisfied, Rainbow rushed to her van and hopped in. Then, tingling with excitement and nerves, she twisted the key in the ignition, and sped off toward Sunset Shimmer. — Rainbow Dash saw the gleaming marble base of the destroyed statue first. Then she caught sight of Sunset, leaning against it and shining just as beautifully. She nearly planted her face into the wheel at that thought. That lame, lame thought. Instead of cringing into her bones, she focused on spinning the steering wheel, parking in one swift, fluid motion. Now still, she pushed away the gooey, mushy nonsense thoughts that had caught her off guard when she’d seen Sunset again and shored up her confidence and cool.  There was no need to be intimidated or scared. She was Rainbow goddamn Dash after all. She just needed to make things clear and be direct. Chicks were into that sort of honest, confident approach, or the ones she’d flirted with in the past had been anyway. One more centering breath and she stepped out of the van, the sound of the door slamming closed drew Sunset’s attention and ocean blue eyes. She smiled when they landed on Dash, and Rainbow felt something reverberate in her chest. Not painful like before, when Sunset had left, but deep and resonant, like a bass note on a blaring concert’s dance floor. “S-Sunset! Hey!” “Dash. Good to see you.” She said as she pressed away from the statue into a proper standing position. Sunset’s grin was infectious, and she found herself matching it without thinking. Rainbow walked toward her, intending to give her a friendly greeting hug, but on the way she remembered why she was here, what had happened earlier today. So she stopped a good foot or so away, putting her hands in her pockets. Sunset stopped too, and they both stood there silently. Rainbow rocked back and forth on her feet. Sunset rubbed at her arm. Confidence. She reminded herself. “Sooo… you wanted to talk.” She offered. It wasn’t the best start, but at least she was taking the lead. At least it wasn’t just awkwardly silent. “Yeah…” Sunset responded, still rubbing at her arm, still taking her time. “About last night.” All of Rainbow’s senses focused in on Sunset and only Sunset. This is what she wanted: answers, or at the very least a look into what Sunset was thinking. “I think I’d like to… try that again?” Sunset was still smiling, and a blush crept onto her face. The bass resonated through her chest again, down her body, and pleasant, happy warmth followed the chord. She almost giggled. Almost. But really what had she expected? She was the Rainbow Dash. Star athlete, rockstar, and all around total babe. Who wouldn’t want another chance with her? She smirked. The confident approach had already paid off, so it only made sense to push it. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.” She hooked her thumbs into the loops of her jeans and leaned forward a little. “I mean. Few women can resist my charms.” Sunset, instead of stammering or blushing more, snorted and rolled her eyes. “Really now?” She said with an amused, crooked smile. Ah. It was a game. She was playing hard to get. “Really.” Dash said as she took a step forward, closing the distance between the two of them. “I mean I’ve got girls lining up around the block to get in my bed, Sunset. You’re one of the lucky few to actually manage it though. Even luckier that I’d wanna do it again.” Sunset’s smile fell and now she just looked… confused. “Was that a compliment?” Dash felt like she might have misstepped somehow, but it was fine. Sunset had left a perfect opening for her to correct it. “Well. Duh. Sunset you’re a total babe. Like, smoking hot. Of course I’d wanna roll around in the sheets with you again.” She had finally closed the distance enough to touch Sunset, and chose to walk her slender digits up Sunset’s arm as she spoke. Rainbow got another smile, but it wasn’t as brilliant this time, not as bright. “So… is this a friends with benefits sorta deal then? Is that… is that what you want?” Sunset asked. Rainbow paused, realizing she only had a blank spot in her mind where the answer to that question should be. She had wanted answers, she had wanted another kiss, and… she hadn’t thought much farther ahead than that. She honestly hadn’t expected to get this far. To push for anything more than she was getting seemed dangerous, seemed stupid. Sunset saying yes to them kissing, and touching, and pressing their warmth together was already so fucking awesome. No. No, Rainbow wasn’t going to be greedy about this. “That’s... yeah. I mean. Sounds good to me. If it sounds good to you.” “Oh uh… yeah! Totally. If that’s… I mean. Yeah.” Sunset was still smiling, but it wasn’t reaching her eyes. They weren’t gleaming like the marble anymore. “But uh… not right now? If that’s cool. I mean. I still stink from last night and I’m assuming you haven’t showered either so…” “Yeah no totally. I’ve been at Pinks’ all morning so. Need to get back home and stuff.” “Right.” “Right.” There was more silence, and this time Rainbow didn’t know how to fill it, didn’t know what to say. Sunset finally did instead. “Maybe… next weekend though? We can… I mean without all the alcohol and stuff.” Sunset moved her arm forward, like a small, unsure offering. Then she dropped it just as quickly. “Right. Yeah. Totally.” That definitely sounded good. Nothing muffling the experience, just Sunset’s body against hers, their heat exchanging. It sounded hot. It looked hot, when she glanced at Sunset and imagined her bare curves and soft, smooth skin that hid beneath her leather jacket and t-shirt. But… But then Sunset started to walk away. She didn’t say bye, just sort of waved weakly, and Rainbow saw her heading toward her stylish, sleek motorcycle. She didn’t know why, but she’d expected some kind of kiss: either soft, slow, and romantic or heated, passionate, and frantic. Instead, Rainbow got a half wave. The deep base faded from her body and was replaced with some sort of whimpering pain. It hurt to realize, she still wanted Sunset, even though she already had her. The half measure wasn’t enough. What do you want…?  Fluttershy had asked her that, and at the time Rainbow thought she knew. She wanted whatever Sunset wanted, whatever would make her friend happiest, she just wanted the answers on how she could make that happen. Asking for more felt like it led to a road of a strained, then broken friendship. It felt like a betrayal, just one that took place in slow motion, and Rainbow Dash would never do that to a friend. Watching Sunset walk away felt so wrong though. She could feel that invisible awkward distance she’d feared spreading between them, pushing them apart like an unstoppable force. “Sunset! Wait!” She’d been steps away from her bike and Rainbow had panicked. She had no plan of action, no big speech prepared, she just didn’t want Sunset to ride off, to spread that distance impossibly, insurmountably wide. Tell her the truth! About what you want and how you’re feeling!  Fluttershy had insisted on that, but was it really so simple? Rainbow Dash knew from Twilight, Princess Twilight that is, that honesty was AJ’s bag, not hers. She knew from her own mind that opening her heart, spilling every whiny, sappy, lovey-dovey emotion sounded incredibly lame. The exact opposite of the cool, confident girl she was supposed to be. Though, she did also know that Applejack, though stubborn and bossy at times, was an amazing friend. A friend that would never bullshit you, a friend that wouldn’t lead you astray. She knew that every one of them together, all of the elements, equaled amazingly powerful, crazy awesome, magic rainbow beams. “Rainbow Dash?” Sunset had been waiting patiently and at this point decided to speak up. She looked confused again, more so than before. “I…” She could only really get that out. She was standing at the edge of a pool she didn’t really want to jump into. Fluttershy’s voice shoved her in. Tell. The. Truth. “I’m super scared.” “Scared?” Sunset stepped away from her bike, back onto the curb. “Yeah. I mean. Terrified… actually?” “Should we not…” Sunset was frowning now. “I mean, Dash, if you just wanna be friends I totally get it. I’m not going to push you into anything.”  “No!” Rainbow blurted. “No. I… I mean.” She covered her face with her hands, groaned, and then swore. When she dragged her hands down her face enough that she could see beyond them, Sunset was still there, looking at her expectantly. Rainbow Dash bit her lip, breathed in deep, and dove down into the water that Fluttershy had pushed her into. “I’m so scared that you don’t want what I… what I want. Or that you do, but that someday you won't anymore. And then we'll fight and break up and things will become weird and then we won’t be friends anymore, but… but I also! I can’t take back what I did last night and this,” she gestured emphatically between the two of them, “this, right here, right now is already happening. It’s already becoming awkward and shitty and I’m scared that no matter what I do things are going to change. So!” Rainbow threw up her hands. “Fuck it! Right?” She tried to laugh, but it was a pitiful, dead sound. So she stood a little straighter and gulped down the weak chuckle, her fear, and her pride. Then she let honesty spill from her lips, like any good friend should. “I… I want you Sunset. I want sex, yeah sure, but not just that. I want to play guitar with you in my basement, and I want to kiss you when I see you between classes, and I want to do dumb, cliché study dates with you and not just because you’re way better at pre-calc than me, but because doing pre-calc with the hottest girl I know makes it sound way more bearable. Still bad, I mean it's pre-calc but, whatever.” She tried to just smile this time, but Sunset was staring at her with wide, brilliant sea-green eyes. So she swallowed again and went on. “I wanna. I don’t know, get on your bike and drive like two hours just so we can hit up the beach. I want you to come to all my games. I wanna kick your ass in like every fighting game ever because somehow that’s like the one thing you don’t absolutely rock at.” She gestured at Sunset helplessly. “I want you. I don’t know if I’m… in love, or anything, but I know I want you in my life. And I want you there as not just my friend, not just my fuckbuddy, but as… my girlfriend? My date? My… you get it right?” She swore in her head, why was she so bad at this of all things? Why couldn’t she just string all her mushy emotional thoughts together properly? Sunset, thank the summer sun above them, nodded in understanding. Rainbow nodded back, a quick jerk of her head more than anything, the stiffness of the movement brought on by the nerves building in her stomach and chest. “So. What… what do you want, Sunset?” Sunset responded by rushing forward and giving Rainbow that kiss she’d been wishing for. Only it was better than what she’d been dreaming of. Hot and passionate, but not hurried, not panicked. A slow, sensual exchange of tongues and wetness and heat, of exploring limbs and skin touching skin. Rainbow didn’t want it to end. She just wanted to stay there and explore every inch of Sunset that her alcohol addled mind had forgotten. Still, it did end, eventually. With panting from Sunset and one whispered “awesome…” from Rainbow Dash. Still, there was a voice nagging. “But…” she couldn’t tell if it was Fluttershy’s or her own. She suspected her mind was too fuzzy from the kiss to separate that out. “I do… I want to hear it in your own words. Exactly what you want.” Sunset looked down at her quizzically. She had never noticed exactly how much taller Sunset was until they were pressed together like this. “I know, I know it’s… I just… I mean I already almost fucked things up by not spelling things out and you’re always saying that Pony Twilight harps on the ‘communication is the key to good friendships’ thing and-“ Sunset put a finger to Rainbow Dash’s lips. “C’mon. Have a seat with me, and I’ll tell you.” The sun was starting to descend by the time they both got situated on the statue’s now free base. Not quite setting, but starting to turn the sky that slightest bit darker. Sunset wanted to pull Rainbow close where they sat, wanted it to be all cheesy and romantic, but this was new and really she didn’t know if Dash exactly went for that sort of thing. So she compromised by reaching her hand out, placing it just over where Dash had rested hers. Rainbow jolted when skin touched skin, and for a beat Sunset had worried even this had been a step too far. The rare, soft smile that Rainbow gave her chased that notion away though, and Sunset smiled back when their fingers twisted awkwardly for a second before intertwining. “I want you too.” Sunset said. “I was…” She debated exactly how much she wanted to tell, but Rainbow Dash had been painfully, awkwardly honest, so she would be too. “Twilight. Princess Twilight. She saved me when she first came to this world, she turned my life around, was the first one to reach a hand out to pick me up after I hurt all of you so much. After I hurt myself so much. That still means so much to me, but she’s happy in her world and I think I need to try to be happy in mine.” Rainbow scowled and quirked a brow. Then put a hand to her forehead and let out a soft “Ohhh…” “Yeahhhh… I didn’t really realize I was still sort of holding a flame for Twi til today. I talked it out with her though. She helped me realize a lot of things actually.” “Talked it out? Wait! She was here?” Sunset laughed. “Why do you think I’m at CHS?” “I thought it was like… neutral ground or something.” Sunset laughed harder, doubling over where she was sitting. “Wh-what?” She exclaimed between guffaws. “Y’know! Love and war and all that.” Rainbow shrugged. She was starting to blush, a line of pink painting her blue skin. It was cute as hell. Sunset scooted closer, and kissed her cheek, which made Rainbow’s cheeks go from pink to red. “You’re a dork.” “Y-You’re a nerd.” Sunset shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.” They sat in comfortable silence for a while then, watching the sun sink lower, feeling the late spring day grow colder. There was a slight breeze, birds chirped, the sky grew more beautiful with each passing minute. This was nice, Sunset thought. She could get used to this. “So… what? You confessed and she just wasn’t into you?” The question seemed to have been burning at Rainbow because she blurted it out into the silence. Sunset let out a short snort of amusement and shook her head. “Nothing like that. She’s dating her world’s Rarity and… she’s really happy. Like, stars in her eyes, mushy gushy happy.” “Blegh.” Rainbow responded, tongue stuck out. “I know, right?” “We can’t be one of those couples.” Though as she finished her sentence Sunset turned to look into her eyes. They both smiled, then kissed. It was a soft, quick thing but Sunset still had the same big grin on her face when they separated. It only faltered when she thought of what else Twilight had told her. “I was scared too. That’s why I took off. I… didn’t think about our friendship changing, about the awkwardness. I think… you were more optimistic.” She’d been staring into Dash’s eyes, but at that she turned back toward the setting sun. “I’ve hurt you before. I was afraid I’d do it again.” Rainbow got out a syllable of protest before Sunset put her hand up. “I know. Trust me. Whatever you’re going to say Twilight already told me. I’m not that person anymore, I’m different, better. And neither of you are wrong…” There was a short pause. Short because Rainbow blustered in again. “I feel like there’s a but coming.” Sunset shrugged. “But I can’t pretend I’m not still worried. Not nearly as much as I was. I… I don’t think I’ll do anything. I don’t think I’ll slip back into my old ways. Really I don’t. But those memories are still always simmering in the back of my mind. What I did, who I hurt. Twilight helped so much, but she can’t fix everything with two heartfelt speeches and a rainbow laser blast.” Rainbow didn’t hesitate. She squeezed Sunset’s hand and offered, “Let me help then. Let me… I don’t know, make you think about something else? Twilight’s back in Equestria, but you’ve got me now, and I’m not going anywhere.” Sunset Shimmer smiled softly, felt her heart swell into her throat with emotion, before swallowing it down. “I know. I’m not going anywhere either.”