Hey Twi,
Need you to come through the portal ASAP. It’s important.
Bzzzzzzt Bzzzzzzt
Twilight’s ear flicked at the buzzing noise ringing against the crystal bookshelf—it certainly had been a while since she’d heard that sound. Her human friends were growing up and settling into the sort of busy lives that the people in that dimension typically led, after all.
The glowing and buzzing book floated down to eye level, held in Twilight’s magical grasp. She flicked through the pages to find the newest message, hoping that it was just another piece of correspondence, or possibly an invitation for a social call, rather than some manner of world-ending crisis.
Hey Twi,
Need you to come through the portal ASAP. It’s important.
As she read the note, her conclusions were anything but concrete.
On the one hand—her brain was already thinking in human terms again—Rainbow Dash had always made the greatest effort to see her whenever she came to visit, and yet always seemed to be holding something back about the direction she was taking her life. This kind of terse message was just the sort of thing she’d expect out of Rainbow. Either of them, really.
But on the other hand—Twilight was already up and moving to the side room where the portal was kept safe and secure—if the world-ending crisis was bad enough, she might not have had time to write anything more.
As she slammed the book in place with her hooves, Twilight conjured a scroll and quill with a burst of magic, scribbled a hasty note, and vanished it again with a pop. Gone through the portal, might be trouble, please tell the girls. In the back of her mind, Twilight imagined she could hear deep rumble of Spike’s belch, even though she knew he was miles away, probably in his new cave.
As the vortex of the portal swirled around her, the thought finally passed through her mind that if there really was trouble, Rainbow wouldn’t have taken the time to draw her cutie mark—or whatever humans called their symbols. Her palm crashed into her forehead as she flailed her legs and tried not to fall.
“There you are, darling. We have to hurry and get going. I’m afraid that someone’s lack of planning left us with very little time.”
Twilight blinked, looking at her friend in the growing twilight. “Rarity? I was expecting Rainbow Dash.”
“And you shall see her, but we have to get moving quickly.” Rarity had already circled around Twilight and was propelling her bodily toward her sleek purple sports car parked near by.
One frantic car trip later, Twilight and Rarity stood together in the front row of the large amphitheater, staring up at the empty—but soon not to be—stage. The crowd whooped and cheered deafeningly behind them as the band they were in attendance to see strutted out onto the stage.
Twilight only recognized one member of the band—it was hard not to in her skin-tight, rainbow-striped outfit—but the cheers that began to erupt from her throat were louder than any others in the crowd. During all of her visits and all of the catching up she did with all of her human friends, never once had any of them mentioned Rainbow Dash continuing her impromptu musical career.
As the band started in on the cold opening of their set, Rainbow caught Twilight’s eye and gave her a wink. The momentary fluttering Twilight felt in her stomach was quickly drowned out by an updated rendition of ‘Rainbow Rocks’ blasting out of the booming loudspeakers.
During the entire concert, Twilight caught Rainbow’s eye at least once, sometimes two or three times during each and every song. Even though a small part of her couldn’t help wondering why Rainbow had kept this a secret, the rest of her couldn’t help cheering until she thought she might lose her voice.
“Encore Encore Encore!”
Twilight joined in the cheering of the crowd, trying their best to coax the band back for one final song. Applause erupted as Rainbow poked her head back out through the curtain and the rest of the band followed.
“What do you say guys?” Rainbow addressed the band, but her voice came loud and clear through the sound system. “I mean it wouldn’t be right to leave without playing ‘Awesome as I Wanna to Be’.
Twilight couldn’t help a wry smile from curling her lips at the memory of Rainbow playing an early version of the song far too exuberantly during the incident with the Sirens and being tackled by Sunset Shimmer.
Nothing of the sort would be happening tonight—no danger lurked, and Rainbow was completely in her element. She’d even added some new verses.
Keep on rising, I just don’t have time to stop
Get there even if it’s lonely at the top
Can’t skimp for a minute on my loyalty
Gotta be awesome to play for royalty
Throughout the entire final verse, Rainbow locked eyes with her, and Twilight blushed. The butterflies in her stomach didn’t let up until the band had departed and she felt Rarity poking her in the shoulder. Her friend wore an almost unnerving grin.
“Come on, let’s go put these backstage passes to good use.”
After some polite words to the security crew and some weaving through cramped corridors, Rarity left Twilight in front of a dressing room adorned with a tri-colored lightning bolt while she went off to chat with some of the other members of the band. Twilight hesitated before she finally knocked softly.
“Come on in!” The voice was a bit more raspy than she remembered, but that was probably normal after so much singing. “Hey, Twi!” Rainbow waved her over, patting the sofa where she sat as Twilight cautiously opened the door.
Twilight gave a little wave and sauntered over, her heart beating hard. She couldn’t look away from Rainbow’s shining eyes. A tingle ran up her spine as she sat down and Rainbow immediately hugged her. Her own arms hugged back out of pure instinct.
A long moment of silence passed between them before Twilight finally found her voice. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were still a musician? And a famous one at that.”
Rainbow pulled back to look Twilight in the eye, her smile slipping a little. “I said it in the song. I had to be awesome enough first.” She clasped Twilight’s hand, her smile returning. “It just took me a while to be as awesome as I needed to be.”
Twilight blushed. “You didn’t have to do that for me. I’m not that special.”
“Of course you are,” Rainbow retorted. “You’re a princess. You’re special, which means I gotta be special if I want—” She broke off. Her lips flexed as if trying to find the right words, but nothing came. Instead, Rainbow lifted Twilight’s hand to her lips and gently kissed it, a light blush coloring her cheeks. “—yeah,” she finished.
The somersault that her stomach pulled when she’d first run into Flash was nothing compared to the feeling in her gut right now. All of her visits to the human world flashed through her mind as she tried to process what was happening. Except for the very rare times when she wasn’t around, Twilight could clearly recall Rainbow’s shining eyes from each and every one, and she suddenly wondered how she’d never spotted the attraction before now.
Twilight lifted Rainbow’s chin with her free hand and gazed into her raspberry eyes, quivering with anticipation. She had an unusual method of seduction, but Twilight couldn’t deny that it was working.