Fifteen Dinners

by Quill Scratch

Chapter 10: A Little Bit of Everything

The library was quiet and mostly empty, as the library often was. Twilight was somewhere upstairs, curled up with a book Celestia had sent her, which left Spike to keep an eye on the library floor, making sure to deal with any customers who entered.

They never did. Spike had learned that much over the years, and he was naturally inclined to spend the hours he promised to watch the library curled up himself in a corner with the latest edition of Power Ponies, only stirring if he heard the doorbell jingle as somepony entered.

It had been so long since he’d heard the sound that Spike at first was mildly confused by the light, high-pitched ringing. He frowned and stood, jogging his way out from the History section and into the main library entrance, looking around for a sign of anypony who had entered. It took him a moment to spot Rainbow Dash, walking quietly up the stairs with a smile on her face.

“Hey, Rainbow?” Rainbow looked down at the sound of her name, spotting the little dragon on the floor below and smiling, then frowning. He looked worried.

“Hey Spike,” she said, stopping in place so that she could hold a proper conversation. “What’s up?”

“Not much,” Spike replied with a shrug, “but you probably don’t want to go upstairs—Twilight’s doing a lot of work today, stuff Celestia’s sent her, and she doesn’t want to be disturbed.” Rainbow tried not to let Spike see her pout, forcing a smile on her face as she lightly jumped down onto the floor below.

“Well,” she said with a sigh, “I wish she’d told me she’d be busy today. I just wanted to come and visit, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Spike said, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like you do that every other day. You two don’t even go out of the library!” Spike stopped, his tone suggesting he had more he wanted to say but had thought better of it. Rainbow raised her eyebrows quizzically, and Spike sighed in resignation. “I just wondered what you two were doing. It’s not like you to willingly spend so much time on the ground, let alone indoors.”

Rainbow smiled, the lie coming easily. “We’re just reading, Spike,” she said, shaking her head as if she thought he was overthinking things. “I mean, since Twi showed me Daring Do I’ve just kinda enjoyed spending time reading more things, I guess.”

Rainbow hated this part of their relationship—but she knew that Twilight had every right to want to keep things between them, for now. They had barely been going out three months, anyway, and though that might have seemed like a long time to Rainbow it really wasn’t enough time for somepony like Twilight to commit to actually coming out to her friends and family. Rainbow thought it was silly: there was hardly anypony these days who didn’t at the very least accept them, if not wholeheartedly and gladly welcome them as friends. She knew their friends would support them, and she had never met anypony in Ponyville who wouldn’t, but… well, Twilight was just being Twilight, she guessed. It was just like her to overthink even the smallest things, and Rainbow had to admit that to somepony who grew up socially isolated this probably wasn’t a small thing.

Still, it was worth it. If it made Twilight happy, almost anything seemed worth it, these days.

“I dunno,” Spike muttered. “I guess I just never pegged you as the type to enjoy spending time just reading.”

“Hey,” Rainbow replied, “I’ll have you know that I am far more than just a pretty face and awesome tricks!”

Spike raised his eyebrows at her, his expression blank. “Pretty face?” he asked, clearly trying to hide a snigger and doing rather well at it. Rainbow put on her best mock-hurt expression, clasping her hoof to her chest and swooning dramatically.

“Spike! You wound me!” she cried, feigning a sob. “I don’t know how I shall live if you don’t think I’m pretty.” Spike rolled his eyes, turning to walk back into a little corner of the library.

“Twi will be down for dinner in about half an hour,” Spike called over his shoulder. “Feel free to just hang around till then if you want. And stop being such a drama queen; it doesn’t suit you!”

Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Spike’s retreating figure, turning to the empty library desk and wandering over, sitting herself in the seat behind it and resting her forelegs on the wooden table. She looked around at the library, casting her eye over the shelves of books and tables. She imagined, for a moment, that she was in charge, and that the library had become her domain. She was Rainbow Dash, Princess of the Books, and she decreed that all who entered her kingdom were to bow before her throne and pay their overdue fees.

Rainbow giggled softly to herself at the image, shaking her head. It was funny, but quite silly in the end—she couldn’t really see herself as the Princess-y type. Though she supposed that if she was Princess, she’d be in charge and nopony could make her try to act like that; she would be able to be as cool and carefree as she wanted, and nopony could do a thing to stop her.

She didn’t think she’d be Princess of Books, though. Twilight was probably a bit more qualified for that position.

She lay her head against the desk and used the wood to muffle her laughter as she tried to picture her marefriend as a Princess, sitting all regally on a throne of books and completely ignoring the court while she caught up on another chapter of Daring Do.

Oh, but if Twilight was a Princess she’d be able to go flying with her! Rainbow shook her head, dismissing the thought as ridiculous; Twilight wasn’t a Princess and neither was she, and such ideas would be nothing more than a silly little filly’s daydream.

The desk was comfortable, though, which was strange given how hard and wooden it had first seemed. It was almost as if it were a pillow; Rainbow could feel herself almost sinking into it, despite herself, and decided it was probably as good a time as any for a nap.

“Rainbow?” She opened her eyes, her vision filled with bright lavender fur. She blinked a few times, but the pastel colour was still there; she pushed herself up, yawning.

“H-hey Twi,” she said, her jaw stretching and working itself free. She felt a small crack in one of her cheeks and relaxed at the sensation, even as her marefriend winced.

“What are you doing behind the desk?” she asked. “I thought I’d left Spike in charge of the library.”

“You did,” Rainbow said, stopping to open and close her mouth slowly, rolling her tongue around the insides of her cheeks. “He’s in the history section, I think. At least, he was when I got here. How long have I been out?”

“It’s five thirty,” Twilight replied. “When did you get here?”

“Prob’ly ‘bout five,” Rainbow replied, yawning again. She almost felt awake, but there was a dull pressure behind her eyelids that made her want to just collapse against the desk again. “I dunno, I wasn’ really looking.”

Twilight glanced around a library quickly, before leaning down to give Rainbow a quick peck on the cheek. “Well, it’s good to see you here. Today’s been pretty stressy.”

“I heard,” Rainbow said, pushing her shoulders back and rolling them slightly. “Spike said you had a bunch of reading from Celestia or something.”

Twilight nodded, humming gently to herself in affirmation. She looked thoughtful, and somewhat pleased with herself.

“Rainbow?” she asked absently. Rainbow nodded, frowning. “I think we should tell everypony. About us, I mean.”

“What’s brought this on?” Rainbow asked, her lips quivering as they threatened to spread into a wide grin. Was Twilight really suggesting they let their friends know? Rainbow tried not to let herself get too excited (after all, you never quite knew with Twilight) but was finding it difficult not to.

“Celestia sent me a whole lot of reading on the history of the movement to get same-sex couples approved by society,” Twilight said. “I’ll be honest, it wasn’t something I’d ever really researched before because I’d always just thought that things had always been the way they were today, with a bunch of really vocal ponies firmly against it.

“But it turns out it used to be even worse,” Twilight continued. Rainbow smiled, surprised to find that, for the first time, there was something she knew more about than Twilight and it wasn’t flying. “And it was Celestia herself who spearheaded the change. You know she married Lady Wind Whistler just to help make same-sex couples accepted by the people?”

“I’d known it was an important turning point in the movement,” Rainbow said, her eyes wide any hopes of knowing more about something than Twilight gone. “But that she married her just to help make it seem acceptable? Doesn’t that seem a little… well, cruel?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, frowning.

“Well think about it, Twi,” Rainbow said. “If she did that, it probably meant the marriage was one of convenience. Would you want to be married to somepony if you knew the wedding was just to help forward some civil rights movement, not one of actual love and commitment?”

“I don’t think Celestia didn’t love her,” Twilight replied, thoughtfully, “but I can see where you’re coming from. It would be a challenging relationship to build any confidence or trust in. Wind Whistler would likely have spent a lot of time wondering if it was real.”

They stood in silence for a moment. “Is it bad that I’m a little bit glad she might have had such an unhappy marriage, if it means I can be with you now and not have to worry about what our friends think?” Rainbow asked, just a little bit worried. “Does that make me a bad pony?”

“I don’t think so,” Twilight said, giving Rainbow a brief, affectionate nuzzle. “I think it makes you, well, pony. Anypony would probably do the same.”

“When’re we going to tell the others?” Rainbow asked, leaning into Twilight’s embrace. For a moment they just sat and held each other.

“I sent out some invitations at lunchtime today,” Twilight replied sheepishly. “I’ve invited everypony round for dinner tonight. Do you mind?” Rainbow looked up to see Twilight grimacing nervously, looking as if she were about to say something more to excuse her actions. Rainbow smiled softly.

“Of course not,” she said, her smile spreading into a grin as she watched Twilight’s face relax with relief. “I’ve wanted to tell them as soon as you were ready since, well, since we started dating. Who’s coming?”

“The girls are all coming,” Twilight said, her voice uncertain, “and Rarity is having to bring the Crusaders, since it was rather last-minute notice and she couldn’t send them off somewhere else. And Spike, of course; he’s offered to cook for tonight.”

“Do you think we should tell him first?” Rainbow asked, pulling Twilight close as she saw a sliver of doubt cross her mind. “Twi, if we’re going to tell the others, Spike will want to know. He’s practically your family, and I think he’d like to know what he’s really cooking for.”

“What am I cooking for?” Spike asked, and Rainbow and Twilight turned to face him, shocked to see the little dragon standing in the doorway, a comic book dangling from his claw. “And why are you two being all… cuddly?”

Twilight turned to send a panicked look at Rainbow, and Rainbow could feel Twilight’s heart beating fast beneath her coat. She gave her a quick squeeze of encouragement.

“Only if you want to,” she whispered, and Twilight nodded, her eyes squeezed tight shut.

“Are you okay, Twi?” Spike asked, worry colouring his tone. Twilight nodded again, fiercely this time.

“Yeah,” she said, her tone muted, as if she were struggling to find her voice. “I—I’m okay. Spike, Rainbow and I have something v-very important we want to tell everypony tonight, a-and it’s really important to me…” she turned and smiled at Rainbow nervously—she was shaking, and Rainbow could see the tears of worry forming in her eyes. Rainbow had known this would be a difficult thing for Twilight to do, but she’d never expected her marefriend to be quite so frightened of telling Spike. “To us,” she added, her voice a little stronger now.

“Uh, sure,” Spike said, clearly confused by Twilight’s behaviour. “I was going to make something really special anyway. What’s the big news?”

Twilight looked again at Rainbow, her eyes pleading. Rainbow shook her head gently—Twilight had to be the one to say it, at least this first time. Though she could see the fear in her marefriend’s eyes, she knew that she would only feel worse if she’d let Rainbow Dash tell Spike about this.

“Spike,” she said, after taking a deep breath. Rainbow gave her another supportive squeeze. “Rainbow and I are dating.”

Rainbow heard the breath catch in Twilight’s throat the moment she spoke, and watched as her eyes flew wide open. She turned her attention to Spike, who was watching the two closely, as if waiting for something.

“... that’s it?” he asked, after a moment’s silence. “Huh. I thought from your reaction it was something big and scary.”

“You’re not… you don’t hate me?” Twilight asked, her voice quiet and surprised. Spike laughed, loudly, his chuckles filling the room.

“Twi, why would I hate you?” Spike said. “You finally got yourself a special somepony; if anything, I’m pleased for you!”

Rainbow wrapped a wing around Twilight’s shoulders and pecked her on the cheek.

“Told you so,” she whispered, a smirk on her face. Twilight’s face was a perfect mix of amazed and shocked, and Rainbow found herself wanting nothing more than to press her lips against Twilight’s, so she did.

“Just because I’m pleased for you doesn’t mean I don’t think you two should get a room,” Spike muttered, walking into the kitchen and letting the door slam behind him. Rainbow started chuckling, her muzzle still pressed to Twilight’s, and soon the two were laughing as they kissed, their bodies moving in spasms of bliss.

“See?” Rainbow said as they pulled apart, breathless. “I told you it would be fine.” Twilight gave a smile, the first real, true smile she had had since she admitted she wanted this. She was beautiful when she smiled.

The moment was broken by a loud knocking at the door—Rainbow and Twilight sprang apart, as Twilight went to open the door and Rainbow stepped out from behind the desk self-consciously. Twilight laid a hoof on the door handle and the thought flashed through Rainbow’s mind to question why her marefriend wasn’t simply using her magic as she always would. The answer came almost immediately: she was scared.

“It’ll be okay,” she whispered, and saw the brief flicker of a determined smile on Twilight’s face as she pulled the door open. Standing in the doorway was Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing on the spot and grinning like a maniac.

“Hi Twilight!” she all but shouted, bouncing her way inside. “It’s soo good to see you! And you’re having a dinner party, too! I love dinner parties, they’re like normal parties but instead of playing games and loud music I get to just spend some time with my bestest friends in the whoooooole world and eat lots of scrummy food and generally—”

“Hello Pinkie,” Twilight interrupted, shaking her head at the hyperactive pony’s antics. “It’s good to see you here, too.”

“So what’s the big announcement?” Pinkie asked. “Oh! No! Don’t tell me, I wanna guess!” Her face scrunched up in concentration for a second, as Rainbow and Twilight exchanged exasperated looks. “Oo! Are you getting promoted in your research? Are you having a secret affair with a top member of the Canterlot elite? Are you getting published? Are you writing a comprehensive thesis on the Breezie migration? Are you baking a giant—”

“Pinkie, I think the idea is she’s going to tell us when everypony gets here,” Rainbow said dryly, as the bashing sound of knocking rang out through the library again. Twilight pulled open the door to find Rarity and Applejack standing side-by side, the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing warily behind their legs. Twilight gestured for the five of them to enter, greeting each of them with a warm smile and a quick hug: Scootaloo bounded straight out of Twilight’s forelegs and ran up to Rainbow Dash, grinning.

“Rainbow Dash!” she cried, throwing herself at the older pegasus. Rainbow grunted as the cannonball of orange fur hit her right in the chest, almost knocking her over. “I managed to glide a hundred feet today!”

Rainbow felt her lips stretch into a wide grin, but at the same time she felt her heart skip a beat. If Scootaloo was improving at gliding, it wouldn’t be long before she found out… Rainbow sighed and shook her head, deciding instead to revel in the success of her little sister.

“Only a hundred feet?” she asked, exaggerating her sigh. “I dunno Scoots, that doesn’t sound that impressive…” she chuckled before pulling the little filly close, hugging her tight and whispering in her ear, “I’m really proud of you. You’ve done good.”

Rainbow’s heart broke a little at the grin on Scootaloo’s face, and the delighted hug she gave her.

“Yeah, it was really amazing!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “Oh, you should have seen her!”

“I still reckon she went at least two hundred,” Apple Bloom added, grinning as she stood and watched her friend.

“Apple Bloom, the field isn’t even two hundred feet long,” Sweetie replied, shooting her friend a look of tired disappointment. “But it did look really far!” she added, as Apple Bloom replied with her own, challenging gaze.

“Well, I for one am glad that Scootaloo is doing so well at her gliding,” Rarity said, “but I must admit I’m a little more intrigued about what kind of special surprise Twilight has in store for us tonight.”

“Well, she’s not getting a promotion, or having an affair, or getting published, or writing a thesis, or baking a giant cupcake army to lead into battle and usurp the throne, so I got nothing,” Pikie added helpfully. The room was quiet for a few seconds as everypony digested what Pinkie had said and quickly gave up on trying to understand the way her mind worked.

“Well, I’m sure we can wait until Fluttershy turns up,” Applejack said. “Though I hope she doesn’t take too long. I gotta admit, I’m getting a little worked up with anticipation.”

“You’re getting worked up, AJ?” Rainbow asked, her eyebrows raised. “What’ve you got to worry about?”

“With th’urgency Twi here sent her message, I thought it was probably something real important, like if she’d gotten herself pregnant or was moving back to Canterlot or som—”

Applejack was interrupted by Twilight and Rainbow’s raucous laughter, after they shared a knowing look. She frowned at them for a few moments and let them regain their composure a little before asking, “Is there somethin’ I’m missin’ here?”

“I think it’s something we’re all missing, darling,” Rarity said, shrugging. The Crusaders were exchanging confused glances.

“Uh, sis?” Apple Bloom asked. “How could Twilight get herself pregnant? Miss Cheerilee was talkin’ to us ‘bout this th’other week, and she said—”

“It’s a figure of speech, Apple Bloom,” Twilight said, chuckling at the embarrassed look on Applejack’s face, and the horrified look on Rarity’s. “And to answer your question before you ask it, Sweetie Belle: no, I wouldn’t have been able to do that with some arcane spell from the archives. There isn’t one.”

“You’ve looked?” Rainbow asked, smirking as Twilight blushed a deep violet; and so it was that, when Fluttershy finally arrived at the library, everypony inside was rocking with laughter, standing around a furiously blushing Twilight.

“Uhm, I’m sorry I’m late,” she said, meekly. “Did I miss anything important?”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied. “Rainbow Dash just asked something rather personal and I’m afraid my response seems rather more amusing than I had thought it was.”

The laughter was subsiding; Rainbow was smiling cheekily at Twilight, who was glaring at her with an unimpressed look, but thanks in her eyes.

“Well then, I guess we’re all here now,” Rarity began, but was stopped mid sentence by a call from the kitchen.

“Dinner’s ready!” Everypony turned to the kitchen at Spike’s call, and an unspoken agreement passed through the room that whatever was going to be said could be said over food.

Squeezing all of them around the table in the kitchen was tough, and Rainbow found herself tightly pressed between Scootaloo and Twilight (she wouldn’t let anypony else sit next to Twilight, and rather rudely pushed Rarity out of her way to the seat: she made sure to apologise afterwards and Rarity shrugged it off). Somehow they managed, although Sweetie Belle was almost unable to move between the other two Crusaders and Fluttershy had very nearly gone without a place, she was so timid and insistent that everypony else deserved a spot. Spike managed to squeeze in on Twilight’s other side, as Twilight levitated the dishes from the counter to the table.

Spike hadn’t disappointed—the dinner was an astounding spread of exotic treats, with a little bit of Griffon and even traditional Crystal Empire cuisine making their appearances in what Spike had dubbed his ‘A Little Bit of Everything’ spread. Rainbow smiled at how he tried to catch Rarity’s eye throughout his over-the-top descriptions, the kind of wording she’d imagined a waiter at a fancy, Canterlot restaurant would use.

Everypony tucked in quickly, Spike’s eclectic spread containing something everypony enjoyed and Rainbow was surprised to see that Spike had paid attention to not only her personal favourites, but also all of the girls—with the exception of the Crusaders, Spike had included everypony’s favourite meals in some form or another (at least, Rainbow hoped he had, but since dessert had yet to be served she wasn’t entirely sure that Pinkie’s favourite would make its way to the table. Besides, nopony quite made cupcakes like Pinkie Pie.) Spike tried to hide his blush as everypony told him how good his food was, but Rainbow couldn’t help but notice the dreamy expression on his face when Rarity added her voice to the praise.

“So now we’re all sittin’ and eatin’,” Applejack began, “y’all wan’ to tell us why we’re here?” The table grew quiet as Twilight looked down at the table, biting her lip. Rainbow gave her a gently, affectionate nudge, and she could see Spike’s claw resting gently atop her foreleg.

“I wanted to bring you all here tonight to share with you one of the m-most incredible things that has happened in my life.” Twilight’s voice was shaking and her eyes were closed. She was quiet, yet everypony could hear her perfectly. Rainbow tried to hide her proud smile as Twilight looked up at last, sighing, and cast her eyes around the table.

“When I first arrived in Ponyville, I’d never really had a friend outside my family in my whole life,” she began. “And within a day, I’d discovered just how wonderful, just how magical friendship can be. Since I’ve moved here I’ve learned so much, not just about friendship but about myself. I’d like to think that knowing all of you has changed me, and for the better.

“It wasn’t until about half a year ago that I started thinking about pursuing something more than friendship with anypony—I had been so overwhelmed by how wonderful friendship could be, I never stopped to think about romance, and love. But spending so much time with Cadance lately got me thinking more and more about when I might meet that special somepony.” Twilight chuckled, and smiled. Even Pinkie Pie was staring in rapt attention. “It never occurred to me that I might have already met them.

“For the last three months, I’ve been seeing somepony, and I feel kinda terrible for not letting you girls know about it.” Various cries of ‘don’t be silly’ and the like flew around the table, but Twilight raised a hoof to silence them. “I was afraid, and it’s a fear I’ve had since I was a filly, since I watched other fillies being bullied for it. I was afraid to open up to you on this issue, but gathering you all here tonight has reminded me that if there are any ponies in all of Equestria I can trust with anything, it’s you.”

Twilight was silent again for the longest time. She seemed to have started staring off into the distance, fondly remembering something from times gone by. As Rainbow was about to say something, she turned and looked at her with a wide smile of acknowledgement, before turning back to the rest of the table.

“Rainbow Dash and I have been dating,” Twilight said, finally, almost rushing the words out. She smiled nervously and looked around the table. Everypony remained silent, digesting the news.

“Oh. My. Goodness!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed after an eternal moment’s pause, squealing with delight and somehow contorting her body to reach across the table, drawing Rainbow and Twilight into a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so excited for you guys! Oh! You’ve got to let me throw a ‘My Best Friends Are Together And Are Totally The Cutest Couple In Ponyville’ Party!”

Rainbow laughed at that, smiling at Twilight reassuringly and soon enough everypony around the table was laughing and crying and congratulating the couple. Twilight was overwhelmed by the response, but Rainbow could see in her eyes a shining happiness, the very same kind of happiness that she saw as they ran up the stairs in the Castle of the Two Sisters. It was a glimmering, hopeful kind of happiness.

And Rainbow was staring at her, and she was staring right back. And the voices of their friends faded to nothing, and there was nothing in the world but the two of them as their lips touched and their eyes closed. It didn’t matter that there were other ponies out there who would hate them for it—Rainbow knew that, for tonight, they had each other, and nothing could take that away.

Comments

[PresentPerfect]

Ahh, so there is some lampshading for Scoot's parents. Hmm.

“Just because I’m pleased for you doesn’t mean I don’t think you two should get a room,”

This though. This is the best line. :D