“So… what are we doing again? All I heard when you woke me up was that we were going over to your friends’ places to tell them something,” Scootaloo asked from her position on Twilight’s back. They were trotting through the middle of town, heading straight for Rarity’s boutique.
“Well, ever since Rainbow and I started taking care of you, my friends have been left out of the loop, so since Rainbow’s gone until tomorrow, we’re gonna go and get this out of the way,” Twilight said as she looked over her shoulder, giving Scootaloo a reassuring smile.
“Get what out of the way?”
“Telling my friends that Rainbow and I adopted you. Technically, you’re our daughter now, so I think it’s important that we go and let my friends know now so that they don’t get confused later.”
“Oh, yeah, okay… how come Spike isn’t coming again?”
Twilight gave a soft giggle before responding. “I tried to get that sleepy dragon up to bring him along, but he wouldn’t budge. I think we can give him a few more hours of sleep.”
It only took them another minute to make it to Rarity’s boutique. The lights were on upstairs, but the sign said that the business was closed. Knowing that she was always welcome, Twilight knocked on the front door and walked inside. “Hey Rarity!” she called out. “Do you have a minute?”
“Ah, Twilight! I’ll be done soon, just give me one minute!” she heard Rarity’s voice call out from upstairs. “You can sit on the couch if you want!”
“Thank you!” Twilight called back. She walked over to the couch and bent down so that Scootaloo could hop off of her. Once she made herself comfortable, Twilight grabbed a nearby blanket and tossed it over Scootaloo before hopping on the couch herself. A few moments later, they heard hoofsteps come from upstairs, but instead of seeing Rarity walk downstairs, they saw Sweetie Belle.
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as her gaze fell upon her friend.
“Hey, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo said as she slid off of the couch. She wrapped a hoof around her friend’s neck in a friendly embrace then sat back. “Sorry that we couldn’t hang out the past couple of days… Things have been kinda busy.”
“Ah, Scootaloo, Twilight how nice it is to see you two again!” Rarity said as she made her way down the stairs. “Let me make us all some hot cocoa, and then we can all talk,” she said, making her way into the kitchen.
Twilight got up and followed her friend into the kitchen. “Hey, you need any help in here?” she asked as she watched her friend pull some mugs out of the cupboard.
“No, I think I can manage… Thanks though!” Rarity said. “So how’s life with Scootaloo? You just have to tell me everything!”
“Alright…” Twilight started with a nervous but excited giggle. She knew that what she was about to say was going to blow her friend’s mind. “Well, for starters… Scootaloo is now mine and Rainbow’s adopted daughter.”
Rarity took a few seconds to respond. She slowly laid the empty mug she had in her hoof’s grasp back down on the counter before she turned around, her eyes wide in astonishment. “Wha… wha… she’s your…” she stammered, unable to believe her ears.
“Yes, Rainbow and I adopted Scootaloo,” Twilight said, finishing her friend’s sentence for her. “It was the only way for her to not go to some foster home in Canterlot.” She giggled at Rarity’s shocked look. “Here, let me help you make the hot cocoa and I’ll tell you all about it.” Lighting her horn, she quickly put a pot of water on the stove and lit the fire underneath. She put a scoop of the hot cocoa mix in each cup, then when the pot of water started to boil, Twilight poured an even amount of it into each cup. “Come on, let’s go back to the living room…”
Her mouth hanging wide open, Rarity silently followed Twilight back into the living room. Twilight sat back down on the couch while Rarity sat on the chair to the left of it. Hearing Scootaloo’s and Sweetie Belle’s voices come from upstairs, Twilight picked up their mugs and held Rarity’s out for her to grab.
“So… let me get this straight,” Rarity said after taking a sip of her drink. “Scootaloo is…”
“Now my adopted daughter, yes,” Twilight said with a nod. “I’m not sure how well Scootaloo is dealing with everything, but she seems to be doing pretty well. She hasn’t had any nightmares for the past few nights and she seems to be enjoying her new room in Rainbow’s house, which is now connected to the library giving her easy access to her new home.”
“You have to be joking me, dear. There’s no way that Rainbow’s house is connected to yours…” Rarity giggled and took another sip of her drink.
“I’m actually not,” Twilight replied. “Rainbow went and filed all of the paperwork this morning, and she even got the mayor’s stamp of approval. Let me tell you, it sure was a surprise to see a massive cloudhouse floating outside my bedroom window when I woke up…” Twilight chuckled at Rarity’s look of confusion and took another sip of her own drink. “Since the court deemed the library a public building unfit to raise a filly, they ordered Rainbow and I to provide a way for Scootaloo to access Rainbow's home, so that was our, well, Rainbow’s solution. Even though she kinda did it out of the blue, I have to admit that it was rather smart of her. Oh, and you want to hear something even better?” Twilight asked. Rarity nodded back silently, raising her mug to her lips for another sip, her eyes wide in excitement. “Rainbow asked me to move in with her and I said yes.”
At that, Rarity spit the hot cocoa from her mouth, tinting her carpet brown. Not even bothered by the mess she had just created, Rarity put her mug down on the coffee table and leaned forward. Lowering her voice, she excitedly said, “Twilight, I didn’t know that you and Rainbow were together!” She sat back with a squee, her tail flicking back and forth in glee. “I mean, I suspected it from the way Rainbow kissed you back at Pinkie Pie’s party, but– oh, nevermind that. When did she ask you out?” Rarity gasped. “Wait! Or did you ask her out?”
Now it was Twilight’s turn to be shocked. “Uh… hang on a second… What are you talking about?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. Raising an eyebrow at her friend, she chuckled nervously and said, “Rarity, Rainbow and I aren’t together, we’re just friends. We figured that since we snuggle with each other almost every night of the week we might as well just share the same bed.”
“What?!” Rarity shrieked as she yanked on her hair. “Woah woah woah, hold on there; I just want to get things straight…” She took a slow, deep breath to calm herself down. “Okay… so you’re telling me that the two of you sleep together, you’re moving into her house, and you two aren’t together?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, that’s right…” Twilight said, stretching her last word out as she watched Rarity’s chest heave up and down faster and faster.
“Twilight…” Rarity started, visibly restraining herself from raising her voice. “I’m going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer them as truthfully as you can, okay?” Twilight nodded back. “Alright then. Since this situation with Scootaloo developed, how many times have you and Rainbow had sex?”
“What? Never!” Twilight said, shocked that Rarity would ask such a question. “We’ve just snuggled on the really cold nights…”
“Ah, I see. I’m sorry for asking such a blunt question, but I had to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding you. So, next question… why are you and Rainbow snuggling together? If you two aren’t in a relationship, then why are you acting like you are?”
“Oh, um… well, Rainbow came by the night before Hearth’s Warming Day, really late to be exact. I was catching up on some studying when I saw what looked like a pegasus flapping their wings just outside the front door, so I went to investigate and found her in tears. When I asked her what was wrong, she said that she hadn’t slept well at all for a few months until we had snuggled on that one bed back when Scootaloo was hospitalized, so I offered if she wanted to snuggle with me again that night.”
“Why?”
Twilight blushed before she responded. “Well, I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t like another pony holding me. When we snuggle, I just always feel so safe and warm with her, like nothing can ever touch or bother us. When we snuggle, I always feel so happy with her and I never want to get out of bed when she’s there next to me. And the way her wings feel when they surround me?” Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. “Don’t even get me started on how sweet she is… Also, when she’s not there, I…” She felt her cheeks warm even further, making her look away from her friend. “I sorta kinda wish she was.” She looked back up and stopped talking when she noticed Rarity’s smirk. “Er… what?”
Rarity giggled and smiled like an idiot as she reached for her mug. “Oh… nothing,” she said, followed by another giggle.
“What is it?” Twilight asked, growing a little defensive. “Why are you laughing at me?”
Oh Twilight, how could you be so blind? “Twilight, Rainbow obviously finds you attractive, otherwise she wouldn’t have exposed such a sensitive side to you. I mean, she can’t stand still for five minutes so I can get her fitted for a dress and here I find out about her getting all emotional with you, but that’s not what I find funny.”
“Then what?”
“I think you’re in love with her, Twilight,” Rarity said with a confident smirk.
“What? N– no I’m not…” Twilight said unconvincingly.
“Oh? And what makes you say that? Friends don’t describe friends in such vivid detail like that. It sounds like you have the hots for our rainbow-maned friend!” she said with another giggle.
“I… I…” Twilight stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. She remembered the night when Rainbow asked if she was into her, so she decided to bring that up, hoping it would help her defense. “Listen, on Hearth’s Warming Day, Rainbow asked me if I was into her, saying that she was getting a lot of ‘mixed signals’ or something of the sort. I didn’t know what to say, so I said no, and–” She stopped talking when she saw Rarity facehoof and groan. “What now?”
“Twilight…” Rarity said slowly. “Rainbow asked you if you liked her in a romantic sense and you said no? And on Hearth’s Warming Day? Do you have any idea how hard it was for her to ask something like that, especially when she thought you liked her romantically?”
“I, um… no, I didn’t think–”
“No, of course you didn’t…” Rarity groaned again. Rubbing her temples, she said, “Twilight, listen to me. The way you described Rainbow sounds like you’re really into her. The two of you look really cute together, and I have no idea how you haven’t picked up on her signals. To be honest, I really think you should ask her out on a date just to see how things go. Promise me you’ll think about it?” she asked with a hopeful smile.
“O… okay, I will,” Twilight said as she stared down at her nearly empty mug.
“Oh, and one more thing, Twilight…” Rarity said. “If you can do me a simple favor, I want you to close your eyes and describe Rainbow to me.” When Twilight opened her mouth to reply, Rarity waved her off with a hoof. “I know you already described her for me, but I just want to hear you say it again. Just close your eyes and picture her in your head.”
“Alright…” Twilight started as she closed her eyes. Crossing her forelegs, she swirled her mug’s contents before she flicked her tail to lay around her flank. After making herself comfortable on the couch, she relaxed and said, “Well… Rainbow is… she’s… I don’t know, really. She’s really special to me, and I care about her…” Lowering her voice, she couldn’t help but start to smile as she continued. “Maybe a little bit more than I should…” She finished off her mug and placed it back on the coffee table. Rarity twirled a hoof in the air, prompting her to continue.
Twilight’s smile widened as she sat back, playing with the ends of her mane. “I feel at ease when we’re together and I find myself thinking about her when we aren’t. She’s cute, funny, and a lot smarter than she lets on, something that I really like about her… I love it when she smiles, and making her happy makes me happy, and I… I…” Twilight trailed off as she came to a shocking conclusion that she knew she should have come to days ago. “I think…” she trailed off, her wings fluttering from nervous excitement. Lowering her voice to nothing more than a whisper, she brought a hoof up to her face as she whispered, “I think I might be in love…”
Rainbow had made it to the conference hall just in time. Much to her dismay, there hadn’t been any airflow in the room which had made her sweat profusely even though she was just sitting on a cushion. She had hoped that the conference was only going to take an hour, two max, but the pegasus running the conference sounded like he loved to hear himself talk, so he had gone on and on about all of the proper procedures on how to handle each and every little piece of equipment that everypony already knew how to use for most of the day. Once he had finished with that, he made it sound like he was wrapping things up only to start a discussion on how to work more efficiently and how to motivate your coworkers to work harder.
All in all, it was a complete waste of Rainbow’s time. The only thing that had kept her from falling asleep was when she started daydreaming about Twilight. The moment she started thinking about her, she closed her eyes as she remembered how soft and warm she was when they snuggled last, making her wings flutter ever so slightly.
As she envisioned herself snuggling up to Twilight in her mind’s eye, she couldn’t help but feel a blush tint her cheeks red, making her stomach flutter as if it had a few butterflies inside of it. Her flank wiggling in excitement, she just wanted to leave and go back to Ponyville so she could hang out with her because every time she was around her, she was happy. There was just something about Twilight that made her want to smile, and just the thought of her made her feel all tingly inside.
“…and that's all we have for you for today!” the green pegasus at the podium said with a flourish. “Don’t forget to grab your packets on the way out, and thank you for coming! See you guys next year!”
Thank Celestia… Rainbow thought as she quickly hopped up to her hooves, eager to get out of there. After grabbing her packet from the front desk, she took to the skies around Cloudsdale, thankful to be free from the stifling environment of the conference hall. Landing on a cloud, she took a few seconds to stretch herself out. She stuffed the packet into her saddlebag then shot off the cloud with a smile.
Well… I guess now’s as good a time as any to drop in on the folks and tell them what’s up… Rainbow thought as she wove through the air. The sun was starting to set, and even though she had a strong tolerance to the cold, she’d much rather be inside a warm, cozy house than outside in the middle of winter.
Steering towards her old house on the other side of Cloudsdale, Rainbow slowed down a bit as she flew. Though glad that Twilight had agreed to move in with her and Scootaloo, that left her in a strange position, something that she hadn’t thought of before. Usually, ponies who moved in with each other were in a romantic relationship, but since they weren’t, she started worrying what Twilight had thought when she had asked her to move in with her and Scootaloo.
“Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask the ‘ol egghead out…” Rainbow said under her breath. “I mean, she is kinda cute and she’s pretty darn good at snuggling…” Just the mere thought of snuggling with Twilight made her zone out to her happy place, making her not pay attention where she was flying.
“Hey, watch it!” somepony yelled as they dove to avoid a collision with her. “Pay attention where you’re going!”
“S–sorry!” Rainbow yelled back with an apologetic wave. Looking back ahead, she picked up the pace a little, eager to get to her old house.
The flight to her old home only took her another couple of minutes. As the familiar structure came into sight, Rainbow couldn’t help but grin as she spotted her mom watering some plants hanging from the windows. Thought she still thought that taking care of plants in the middle of winter was a little odd, it didn’t matter that much to her to bring it up.
Wanting to surprise her mom, she landed a couple of houses down and trotted down the street just like she was another passerby. When the pink pegasus didn’t look up from her work, Rainbow hopped the small fence that surrounded the property and snuck up on her, crouching low. Closer and closer she got, the clouds muffling each soft step until she was right behind her.
“Hey mom!” Rainbow exclaimed as she jumped up, wrapping her forelegs around her mom’s neck in a loving hug. She squeezed gently and nuzzled the back of her head before letting go.
“Ack!” Rainbow’s mom jumped a little but immediately settled down when she recognized her daughter’s voice. “Rainbow! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” she said, returning Rainbow’s hug with a nuzzle fiercer than the one she’d just received. “What are you doing up in Cloudsdale? Your father and I were starting to wonder when you were gonna come visit us!”
“Oh, I just had to go to some stupid yearly weather patrol conference thingy. I figured that when it was done, I might as well come home for the night and hang out with the two coolest ponies I know: you guys!”
“Honey!” Rainbow heard her father call from inside the house. “Are my ears playing tricks on me or do I hear my favorite filly outside?” Rainbow looked up just in time to see her dad push the front door open. “Rainbow! Haha, I knew I recognized that voice of yours! C’mere and give your ‘ol dad a hug!”
“Hey, what’s up, dad?” Rainbow asked with a giggle as the two of them hugged. “Been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it sure has…” Rainbow Blitz pulled back, but not before giving his daughter’s back a few welcoming pats. “So you’re staying the night, right? Find any sexy stallions yet?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Oh, stop it, you,” Firefly playfully scolded her husband, swatting him with a dirty rag.
“Heh, yeah, about that…” Rainbow started, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m here. I’ve got some pretty important stuff to tell you guys…”
“Well, why don’t ya come on in, Dashie?” Rainbow Blitz asked, making her daughter blush from his old nickname. “I was just about to finish making some potato soup for your mother and I. Care to join?” He knew that Rainbow wouldn’t miss out on a chance to have one of her old favorite meals.
“Heh, you know I’d love to…” Rainbow said as she followed her parents back inside the house. She closed the front door behind her, smiling as she looked around the place where she grew up. In contrast to her nice cloudhouse back in Ponyville, her parents’ house was small and cozy, about the same size as Fluttershy’s cottage. Reminiscing about all of the good times she had back when she was a filly, she walked down the central hallway and into the kitchen where she found her dad pouring her mom a big bowl of potato soup.
“Here, take a seat, Dashie,” Rainbow Blitz said, gesturing to her old favorite cushion at the head of the table. “We never got rid of your old seat.”
“Heh, awesome!” Rainbow said with a small chuckle as she settled down at her old place at the table. “Ahh… still as comfy as ever…” she said under her breath as she watched her dad pour her a generous helping of the soup.
“So…” Rainbow Blitz started as he poured himself the rest of the soup. “What’s new?”
Rainbow took a few sips of the hot soup before responding. “Well… I’ll be straight up with you and get straight to the point. I adopted a local Ponyville filly with a friend.” As her parents’ eyes widened in surprise at that tasty little tidbit of news, Rainbow started explaining. “Before I tell you why, I just want to say that it’s not because I haven’t been able to find a special someone to have foals with, but because I really feel like this was the best course. Her name is Scootaloo, a young pegasus that has a flying disability. She looks up to me like I’m her older sister, and I took her under my wing a few months back. So when I heard her old parents were abusing the hay out of her, I stepped in and I did what was right. To make a long story short, they treated their daughter so badly that they’re in jail now.”
Both of Rainbow’s parents just stared at her in a shocked silence. Several moments passed before Rainbow’s dad spoke up. “Rainbow, uh… wow. Heh, that sounds really nice of you, but how is she your daughter now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m really proud of you for stepping up like that, because trust me, taking care of a filly is one heck of a responsibility, but aren’t you supposed to go through some huge process to adopt a filly? How’d you adopt Scootaloo so soon?”
“Well, I had a little help from the princesses. Because of some loophole in adoption laws, when the judge took Scootaloo out of her old parents’ legal care, since she wasn’t technically in the foster care system with FPS, we didn’t have to go through a ton of paperwork just to get her. I’m not sure if our reputations as national heroes played a part in any of it, but the judge appointed us as Scootaloo’s new legal guardians on the spot, effectively letting us adopt her. It had been our plan from the start, so it was quite a relief when we actually won.”
“Rainbow, that’s… that’s really sweet of you…” Firefly said with a loving smile. She leaned over the corner of the small table and nuzzled her daughter on the cheek. “This just gives us a good reason to stop by and meet our new granddaughter!”
“Definitely…” Rainbow Blitz nodded, letting a sly smile slip onto his face. “So Dashie, who is this ‘friend’ that adopted Scootaloo with you? Are they a super hot stallion who you’ve fallen head over hoof for?”
“Um… kinda,” Rainbow closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. “I think I may have feelings for them, and–”
“Called it!” Rainbow Blitz said. “So who’s the special stallion, Rainbow? Is it somepony we know?”
“Er…” Rainbow knew what she was about to say would reveal the fact that she wasn’t going after a stallion, but a mare, so she decided to bite the bit and get it over with, hoping that her parents wouldn’t react too negatively. “No, you haven’t met…” She gulped before finishing her sentence. “…Her.” She winced, preparing herself for the worst. “The one I adopted Scootaloo with and the one I have feelings for is a… a mare.”
“So?” Firefly asked nonchalantly. “What difference does that make?”
“Huh? But I thought you wanted me to get with some stallion!” Rainbow said, her eyebrows furrowing a bit in confusion. She’d always assumed that her parents had wanted her to find some nice pegasus stallion to settle down and start a family with, but it seemed like she had been wrong in her assumption.
“Well…” Rainbow Blitz started. “Like any parent, we just want what’s best for you and what makes you happy. Whether it be with a mare or a stallion matters not, for love comes in all shapes and forms. Love is the bond that a mother and her foal shares, while it also can be the bond that two adults share with each other. We’re just happy that you’ve finally found it, really.” He took another sip of his soup, then asked, “So what kinda pony do you have the hots for? An earth pony? I hear they’re really fun under the sheets…” He chuckled, only to have his wife affectionately swat him on the leg. “Or perhaps a nice unicorn?”
“I’ve got my money on a pegasus. Only somepony with wings can keep up with my fast little filly!” Firefly said, a confident smile forming on her face. “So who’s right? Me or him?”
“Um… nobody,” Rainbow said as she blushed. She procrastinated telling her parents who it was by taking another few sips of her soup. When she heard her mother groan, she cocked an eyebrow at her and looked up.
“Oh wait… is it that one griffon you met at Junior Speedster Flight Camp? Gilda, right?” Firefly asked with a roll of her eyes. “We never really liked you hanging out with her…”
“Yeah, that’s her name, but–”
“Aha! I knew you were with that girl! I always had a feeling that you two were messing around with each other!” Firefly exclaimed, confident that she was right.
“No, mom! It’s not Gilda, and besides, I’m not really into griffons like that…”
“Oh? Then who is it? If she’s not a pony, then what species is s–”
“She’s an alicorn, mom, and her name is Twilight Sparkle!” Rainbow said, cutting her mom off. Just uttering the name of her affection sent a small shiver down her spine, making her blush deepen just a little bit further. “On Hearth’s Warming Day, she was acting all nervous and I was getting all of these mixed signals, so I took a chance. I asked her if she was into me, and she said…” Rainbow looked down and let her shoulders slump. “She said no… I recovered by saying it was okay if she wasn’t into me, but even though I didn’t admit it at the time, it hurt me. We’re really close, so I can’t help but feel like there could be something more between the two of us…”
Rainbow Blitz put his spoon back down on the table and pushed his empty bowl away from him. “Rainbow Dash, I want you to think long and hard before you answer me, okay?” Rainbow nodded at him. “Do you want there to be something more between the two of you?” Both he and his wife looked at Rainbow, waiting for her response.
“I…” Rainbow trailed off as she glanced to the side, unable to meet her father’s intense stare. She made it look like she was deep in thought, but she already knew the answer in her heart. “Yes, I do. I want there to be something more between us,” she said with a confident smile.
“Then why don't you just go ask her out? You do have to admit that asking a romantic interest of yours if she’s into you is a little lame,” Rainbow Blitz said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, hehe, kinda… and I don’t know. What would she think of me if I just suddenly come up and say I’m into her and that I want her to go out with me, especially after she said she wasn’t into me? Ugh… why do things have to get so complicated?” she groaned, rubbing the back of her neck in exasperation.
“Dashie… Dashie… Dashie…” Rainbow Blitz said as he stood up to grab everypony’s empty dishes. He brought them over to the sink and started washing them out. “Remember what I told you before you left for flight camp all those years ago? ‘If you’re gonna do something…’”
Rainbow felt her blush deepen as she remembered the last time that she heard those words. She had said the beginning of her dad’s catchphrase herself at Pinkie’s Hearth’s Warming Eve party right after she had kissed Twilight. As she thought about the feeling of Twilight’s lips upon hers, she knew what she had to do. “…Then you gotta do it right,” Rainbow finished with an ever-widening smile.