Third Time's a Charm

by RazedRainbow


Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The distant roll of thunder echoed around the house like a toy bass drum in an empty atrium. It was then that Rarity knew that she was awake. Now that she thought about it, had she even fallen asleep? She couldn’t remember any dreams, though there was distant vision of... something lingering in her mind—an image barely touched by the shimmer of a dying light.

She lifted her head and slowly opened her eyes, bracing herself for the waves of sunlight. She knew that it was waiting for her, ravenous and eager to blind her with its beautifully wretched rays.

Luckily for her, it was still dark as far as she could tell. Her world was painted a bluish black, the only variations being brief glimpses of stars through the windows, and a much darker, moving shadow stretched out beside her. Against her.

At first she felt the desire to scream. After all, opening your eyes to a mysterious shadow laying beside you is near the bottom of the list of desirable wake up calls. Damp, cold fear seized her nerves and squeezed tight, and she swore that, had such a nice blanket not been covering her, she would have shaken enough to erode the house’s very foundations.

For a brief moment, her fashionista instincts took over. I wonder what material this is made of, she thought. It’s so comfortable—if it has a nice color, I could become an Equestia-famous designer. No... no, a world-famous designer. She smiled the pithiest of smiles before the shadow crept into her mind once more. Eventually she would have to face it, that much she knew. It didn’t make the prospect any easier to take. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, prepared to concoct a master plan.

And that was when she tasted it: the faint flavor of sky.

All at once the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

With the slightest hint of a whimper, she eased her magic up into her horn. Soon, the glow was enough to see her own hooves, and then she could make out individual strands in her coat. They looked unclean, and she had to hold back the wail building in her throat. And then it was bright enough to see the dust, spread out upon the floorboards like ash in a wasteland.

She knew that it was now bright enough to see beside her. Yet her head remained locked in place: chin on the ground while she ground her teeth down to nubs.

And then the memories rushed back, and her gaze began to drift without her permission. The pops and clicks of her neck permeated through the air, only overshadowed by the gentle snoring coming from her left.

A blue aura shone across Rainbow Dash’s sleeping face. She bore an expression of absolute tranquility—something Rarity wasn’t used to. There were no tensed muscles on her face to speak of, none of the competitive spark that seemed to flow through Dash like blood.

The sudden influx of light changed that, as Rainbow clenched her eyes and snorted loudly. Rarity lowered the spotlight flooding from her horn to a mere glimmer, but Rainbow had already buried her face in her forelegs and begun to mutter and squirm.

As Dash wriggled, Rarity felt the blanket on her back shift as well. She frowned, shivering as the night air reached her still damp coat. Oh, come now, Rainbow Dash, she silently groused. I may have woken you up—and I apologize for that—but that is no reason to hog the covers! With the most ladylike grunt she could muster, she turned her head and prepared to grasp the blanket in her magic (You may be an athlete, darling, but might is no match for the mind). She stopped her telekinetic spell before it could wrap itself around the first strand.

There was no blanket draped over either one of their bodies—that much she was sure. Rarity even rose the level of her illumination spell to the point where both of their bodies looked like they were under a blue sun. Still no blanket—or pillows, for that matter. Rarity could have sworn there had been pillows. Rarity sighed and began to lower her magic once more. Sleep would most definitely clear her mind.

It was as the darkness was taking over the light when it happened.

Rarity felt the warmness overtake her body once more, alongside a faint sensation comparable to a tug. Her horn still had a spark to it, and she shot around, expecting to see Rainbow Dash putting a blanket over her, grinning sheepishly and saying something about it being “just a little joke” in between giggle fits. The worst case scenario was that it was some form of disease-ridden varmint. What she saw was neither of these things.

Rainbow Dash had her wing draped over Rarity, tips curled so that Rarity’s body was pushing against her slightly. It was something Rarity had never expected. Not in a million years—though, now that she thought about it, it was rather obvious that the blanket was a wing (it was much too comfortable and feathery to be anything but). The revelation hit her like a buggy crash: she couldn’t move, couldn’t think properly, could only stare slack jawed. This is Rainbow Dash, right? she asked herself. For a second, the idea of her friend being some kind of changeling, and this being the moment in which all was revealed and she was gobbled up and replaced by a Changeling Rarity, ran through her mind. However, life was not a creature feature, and Rarity quickly brushed the prospect away. No, she was simply seeing a new side of her dear friend.

A softer side.

A beautiful side.

Rarity shook her head. No. She was not going to think of it like that. Rainbow Dash had always had this soft side to her—Rarity had heard Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and even Applejack speak of it, usually in a joking manner, at parties and other get-togethers. Rarity had just never witnessed it firsthoof. And now she was, and she had to admit that it was just as ‘sweet’ as Pinkie had said it was. Rarity couldn’t help but smile as she envisioned what would happen if Rainbow Dash awoke.

Rainbow would stammer and come up with excuses, voice cracking adorably as it always did when she got worked up. Her face might even grow red. It would be then that Rarity would calm her, holding her close and hugging tight. Then, they’d make eye contact, and Rainbow would lean forward and—

Rarity slapped herself. She would not think of her friend in that way. She would not think of how cute she looked when she slept. She would not think about how her smell brought forth images of freedom and life. She would not think about how sweet it was that Dash had saved her from embarrassment by not even mentioning the kiss out loud—even though Rarity could read it in her eyes. She would not think about how graceful she was in the sky. And she most certainly would not think about how this mare had risked everything to save her life. She would not...

She buried her face in her hooves. Curse you, mind, she seethed. You are a simpleton and a fiend.

Before Rarity could assault herself any more, Rainbow stirred.

As was usually the case—at least as far as Rarity knew—Dash woke up as if it were a Monday. She muttered, snorted, opened her eyes, closed them, opened them again, lifted her head slightly, looked around, and then let her head fall to the floor with a resounding thunk. After a bit of muttering and chin rubbing, she buried her face in her forelegs.

For a long while the room was silent. Rainbow Dash and Rarity both breathed softly, but Rainbow never reverted back to snoring, so it was quite clear to Rarity that she was awake. Though still a little sore, Rarity did not feel tired in the slightest, and she decided to strike up a conversation. If I can’t sleep, nopony can, she thought with a half-joking smile.

“Rainbow Dash?” she said. “Rainbow, are you awake?”

Unnf?”

“Are you awake?”

Eh unf eghhh...

“Could you repeat that?”

Rainbow lifted her head, but just barely. “I said, ‘I am now.’ Jeez, what’re ya, deaf?” Rarity didn’t respond and Rainbow rambled on, voice cracking under weariness as she said, “No, Rarity, I’m one-hundred-percent asleep. That’s why I was talking to ya five freakin’ seconds ago. I always respond to questions when I’m fast asleep, don’t you? It’s totally in fashion nowadays!”

Normally, Rarity would be nettled by Rainbow’s crass words and attitude (How dare she accuse me of being out of fashion!), but at the moment she felt that she should cut Rainbow Dash some slack. It wasn’t Rainbow Dash who randomly kissed her friend, nearly crippled and/or killed said friend, and then made that friend uncomfortable beyond all belief by forcing them to spend hours alone with her.

Still, stepping in would probably be beneficial.

“Calm down,” Rarity said as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. She wondered what time it was: late night or early morning.

“Whatever,” Rainbow muttered. And then all was quiet once more.

“So,” Rarity said after the silence became too overbearing, “that was some storm yesterday.”

“Yeah, it was.” Rainbow sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t even notice it. I mean...” Her voice drifted off and she kicked the floor with one of her hind legs.

“Come now, I had no idea it was coming either,” Rarity said, debating whether putting a forehoof on Dash’s shoulder would slacken the pegasus’ frustrations, or simply make matters worse. She settled on the latter, and placed her hoof back on the floor before continuing, “I heard no thunder, nor did I see any rain clouds.”

Rainbow gave another sigh. “Well, you’re not a weather pony, either. I’ve been trained to be able to smell a storm from, like, a hundred miles away.” A groan filled the room. “This is what I get for being distracted,” she grumbled, just barely loud enough for Rarity to hear.

“And what, may I ask, were you distracted by, hm?” Once a gossip, always a gossip.

“A lot.”

Rarity should have let it stop there, but she didn’t.

“Do be more specific, Rainbow.”

“No.”

Rarity snorted and crossed her forelegs. I thought Rainbow Dash liked to have fun; what’s more fun than a bit of chit-chat between friends? Well, maybe the spa—and making dresses is quite a joyful time as well—but still...

Thunder sounded off in the distance. That was the only voice in the world for the longest while. Well, the only voice speaking aloud.

Rarity did what she always did when she pouted: she thought. She thought about a lot of things, but her mind kept drifting back to earlier. The kiss. Amidst all the dreading and denial and confusion, she had forgotten one very important thing: apologies. Now was the time to rectify that.

“Hey, Dash,” Rarity said, her voice sounding like a hundred snakes had wrapped themselves around her throat.

“Yeah?” came the whispered reply

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“You know what.” Despite her attempts, Rarity’s voice quavered.

Rainbow said nothing. Rarity felt the wing draped over her back tighten, and she felt a lump make its way up her throat.

“I’m so sorry,” she choked out, and the wing grew even tauter. “I’m such a fool.”

“You’re not a fool. Jeez, Rares, lighten up. There’s nothing to apologize over.”

“Yes, there is.” Rarity sniffled. “I hurt you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh c’mon. Is that it?” Rainbow said with a chuckle. “It’s just a scratch. No biggie.”

“But it could have been a ‘biggie!’ You could have broken your wing. You could have gotten hurt so bad that you would never be able to fly again. We... we could have died, Rainbow Dash. All because of me. Stupid, stupid me.”

“None of that did happen, though.” Rainbow’s wing flapped lightly, patting Rarity’s side. “It’s cool.”

“But—”

“No more of these dang ‘buts,’ Rarity.” Even in the dark, Rarity could see Rainbow look out the window. “Look, it’s still, like, one in the morning, and I’m beat. Let’s just try to get some more shut-eye. If you wanna continue with your apologies, let ‘em wait ‘til morning, okay?” Rainbow added a little laugh at the end.

As if triggered by the words, Rarity let out a big yawn. “Now that you mention it... sleep does sound like a splendid idea.”

“What can I say?” Rainbow chuckled. “I’m full of ‘em!”

Rarity smirked. “You’re full of much more than that.”

“Excuse me?” Rainbow said, voice cracking under the weight of her annoyance.

“Nothing, Rainbow, nothing.”

Dash gave something that was a mix between a snort and a giggle. “Whatever you say.” She paused to yawn, then continued, “‘Night, Rares.”

“Goodnight, Dash.”

As it had many times in such a seemingly short period, silence overtook the room, filling it like an overflowing lake. However, this time it was far less tense. Why, it was downright peaceful.

Its reign was short-lived, for Rainbow’s snores started up no more than a minute after she had lain her head back down. Rarity couldn’t help but smile. In spite of the circumstances, she could think of no other word to describe them than “cute.”

Rarity lay with her chin on her hooves for a few minutes, simply staring at the stars out the window and listening to Rainbow snore. With each blink, her eyelids grew heavier. She looked over at Rainbow Dash and made her horn glow once more. Dash didn’t even flinch. Rarity smiled a little, glad to see that Rainbow was sleeping soundly once more.

And then, once she was absolutely, one-hundred-and-one-percent sure that she was the only pony awake, Rarity wriggled in close to Rainbow Dash—resting her back and the back of her head against Rainbow’s chest—and fell asleep.


Special Thanks To: Cynewulf