• Published 1st Dec 2014
  • 2,303 Views, 52 Comments

Fifteen Dinners - Quill Scratch



Rainbow Dash's life is perfect. The Wonderbolts want to hang out with her, her relationship with Twilight has somehow lasted seven months, and she's even dropped her cider addiction! But if life is so perfect, why does it still hurt?

  • ...
4
 52
 2,303

Chapter 7: Daisy Sandwiches

Applejack,
I’m having a little get-together tonight at my place, 'cause I figured I never have you guys around, y’know?
Hope to see you there,
RD


None of her friends had shown up yet—not even Pinkie Pie, who was the one pony Rainbow thought she could always count on to be around to cheer her up when she needed it. She wasn’t entirely sure why she expected anything different, not after last night, but Rainbow still sat dutifully at the door of her cloud home, staring and waiting.

They’d come eventually, right? They had to. They were her friends—the six of them were the Elements of Harmony, who stuck together through thin and thick, whose friendship was the one thing that had stopped Equestria from falling into the darkness of destruction so many times. They shared a bond more powerful than anything, bound since fillyhood by the sonic rainboom. Maybe they hadn’t known each other all that long—and maybe they’d gotten along for even less time—but Rainbow knew deep in her heart that they would come.

She’d sent out invitations that morning, dropping them off with the mailmare on her way to work, and she’d paid extra to make sure that Ditzy delivered that mail as soon as she could. They were simple and plain, nothing like Pinkie Pie’s amazingly decorated invitations made out of shiny, perfectly-folded card and embellished with the neatest, most careful hoof-writing Rainbow could recall, but Rainbow wasn’t Pinkie, was she? So what if her invites were messily written on whatever scraps of paper she could find, hastily finished before she could stain the ink, the bin-full of scrunched-up paper balls a testament to the time and effort she had put into making each one right, even if they weren’t perfect.

Each was individual, too, a touch she’d learned from Pinkie over the years, although one invitation for each of her five closest friends was no challenge at all compared to the monumental task of personalised invitations for everypony in Ponyville and after all her hard work Rainbow Dash was filled with an even greater appreciation for Pinkie’s party-planning skills.

It had been about an hour since she finished all her cooking (not that she’d tried anything particularly inventive. She hadn’t really been in the mood to try new things today, and had spent her allotted practice time over her lunch break simply working on the most mundane parts of her routine, getting each little part of the flight down) and Rainbow hadn’t been entirely sure what to do. She wanted to be ready for her friends’ arrival, so at first she’d done some last-minute tidying, then taken a few minutes trying to get her old sound system up and working. It had been a nice, distracting kind of nostalgia, the kind that was so engrossing that it felt as if whole days had passed while you tried your best to remember which cables plugged in where and which button turned the stupid thing on.

Even that had passed, much to Rainbow’s dismay, and so she found herself sitting in her own hallway, staring up at the door in expectation. Stray thoughts wandered through her head, from worries that her friends wouldn’t arrive to the ribbing she would undoubtedly receive from Applejack if she were the first to arrive. Rainbow shook her head to clear her mind of the image of her in artificial dog-ears, panting and running around Applejack.

Even though she knew her friends would be arriving, Rainbow couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. She’d sent out the invitations early enough, hadn’t she? Surely her friends could at least show up on time. It would certainly be better than leaving her constantly worrying about whether or not they would even make it.


Rarity,
I thought I’d invite all the girls round to mine for dinner tonight. NOT FORMAL Dress code is smart casual.
See you later,
Dash


Eventually, Rainbow rose and decided to stretch her legs, aching as they were from being underneath her for so long. She shook out her wings as she rose and was suddenly filled with the urge to go for a short fly, before dismissing the thought—she was waiting for her friends, she couldn’t just leave them waiting on her porch because she decided to stretch her wings on a whim.

Instead she walked to her living room, striding purposefully to the window and leaning her head on the cloud walls as she looked out into the dark, the soft, fluffy structure sinking slightly beneath her weight, curving around her cheek. The stars twinkled in the sky, pinpoints of light that seemed both comforting and yet so, so far away. There was a cold distance to the night that Rainbow had never quite understood, and looking up at the blackness Rainbow always felt unimaginably small. Despite all the limits she had pushed in her life, she’d always known that she could never reach the stars.

The sky was clear and quiet above Ponyville tonight: no rogue storms from the Everfree for the night team to deal with, no Pinkie Pie party for streams of pegasi to fly to (though Rainbow rarely got to see it, making it her priority to be one of the first guests to arrive at any of Pinkie’s parties). The town below was already falling asleep.

She hadn’t wanted to be alone, and Rainbow was suddenly struck with a sense of just quite how alone she was. The whole point of inviting her friends over was for them to be a distraction for her, for them to take her mind off the pain and the loss and—

No. She wasn’t thinking about it, that was why her friends were coming. In fact, Rainbow realised that was probably why they should have been there a whole hour ago,to make sure that she didn’t have to think about Scootaloo.

Even the filly’s name hurt to think about. It had only been a day; how could things have changed so much in one short day? How could she have gone from hiding a quiet, proud smile every time she even heard of her surrogate sister to being unsure that she could even call the little filly that anymore? Why did that thought hurt so much?

Where were they? Pinkie Pie, at least, would never be late to a friend’s party, even if it was a boring old dinner party rather than one of the fun, night-long parties she held. She could almost understand if the others had work commitments, but they needed to eat, didn’t they?

She sighed. It was no good, she had no idea when her friends would be getting there and sitting by the window moping was not going to make a good first impression for the evening. She pulled herself up from her slouched position, getting to her hooves and began doing the only thing she could think of: pacing the room, her hooves working their familiar way back and forth across the soft floor.

Every second she was anticipating a knock to come echoing from the hallway and it took all her willpower not to turn and bolt back to the window to scan the skies for any sign of her friends. Instead she forced herself to keep pacing, the structured, rhythmic movement starting to influence even her thoughts.

Her friends would get here soon. When they did, they’d have dinner. They’d laugh and talk, and keep her mind clear. She needed to keep her mind clear; she was worried that she might fail. She was worried about what would happen if she did.

Her stomach grumbled, a drawn-out rolling of her muscles that drew her out of her pacing. She stopped still, her thoughts turning to the meal spread out in the next room. It had been an hour, after all, and Rainbow hadn’t eaten the largest lunch that day.

She stood and listened for a moment, giving her friends a few more seconds to arrive, before wandering carefully and slowly to the dining room.


Fluttershy,
Do you want to come over tonight? I’ve invited the girls, it’ll be great! I’ve made dinner.
Hope you can make it,
Rainbow


It took Rainbow Dash approximately ten minutes to mull over the decision to start eating without her friends, and about ten seconds to wolf down a sandwich once she’d decided.

It was refreshing to feel the texture of bread between her teeth, the flavours filling her mouth almost at once. At the same time, despite her long preparations, Rainbow felt a surge of guilt as soon as the bread touched her tongue, a deep longing for things to be as they were and for the dinner table to have been untouched for her friends. It was too late now and, besides, the food was good and she wasn’t going to eat all of it.

As she sat and chewed, Rainbow wondered for the first time about what her friends might actually be doing rather than simply complaining about them not being here. Rarity was most likely working on some huge order or other (didn’t she say she’d been asked to make something for Sapphire Shores? Rainbow could hardly remember.) Applejack could be working the orchards, but with the sun set so far below the horizon already and the winter months soon to set in, Rainbow was less than certain that this was the case. Twilight was almost sure to be researching, as she had been all week long…

Pinkie was an anomaly, of course, and Rainbow could never even pretend to predict the bubbly earth pony’s ways. She was as unpredictable as the little toy Twilight had been playing with on her desk the week before—the pendulum with two arms that swang round and round like a windmill but sometimes almost stopped in place for no clear reason. Despite that, Rainbow thought that if there was one mare in all of Ponyville who could be counted on to spontaneously show up when somepony needed company, it was Pinkie Pie. So where was she?

Rainbow was snapped from her reverie by a thudding sound from the hall. Her eyes wide and eager, she leaped up from the table, piece of sandwich still clasped in her mouth, unchewed. The magical whir of Tank’s motor made her lose hope before she even reached that hall and, unsurprisingly, she found the tortoise floating around the hallway, bashing into furniture—it looked like he was asleep, although with Tank it was always hard to tell. Despite everything that told her otherwise, Rainbow still opened the door just a fraction to check. Her porch was bare.

It was as she carried Tank upstairs, switching his motor off once she was sure that he was asleep and tucking him into his basket that Rainbow realised that Fluttershy was probably very busy at this time of year; she knew that, sooner or later, she would have to prepare Tank for his annual hibernation, and could only imagine how much work Fluttershy was having to do with all the animals she cared for. Rainbow smiled and tucked Tank under his blanket, unstrapping his harness and leaving it by his side so he didn’t accidentally nudge it on again.

She sat for a while by Tank’s basket, staring out of the window as she idly ran a hoof across the back of his shell. She wondered how long it had been since she spent time just with Tank; she certainly hadn’t very often in the past, but since she and Twi had gotten together she thought she might have been ignoring the little tortoise more and more. Sure, she’d take him for weekly pet playdates, and she’d take him down to the library to visit Owlowiscious when she visited Twilight, but she very rarely spent any quality time with him.

Perhaps that was something that had to change. Rainbow smiled, thinking about the time she could spend out flying with Tank, enjoying the chance to just fly for the sake of flying with a friend, rather than for practice or work. It would be a nice way to take her mind off everything.


Pinkie,
I know it’s not gonna be as good as one of your parties, but I wanted to have all the girls over at mine for dinner tonight. Be there?
It’d be nice to see See you,
RD.


She was almost dozing off in her daydreaming when the loud, sharp thud echoed through the house. Shaken, Rainbow stood, before freezing in place, looking down at Tank. She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head, smiling at his sleeping form before she bolted down the stairs and unlatched the door.

Twilight was standing on her porch, biting her lip nervously. Rainbow was so overwhelmed with joy that she threw her forelegs around Twilight almost at once, nearly toppling the two of them out of the doorway and off the house. Twilight looked extremely nervous as she regained her balance.

“I’m so glad you could make it!” Rainbow cried contentedly, her voice a little shaky and dry from under-use. She chuckled. “I may have got started on the food before everypony could arrive.”

“It’s no problem,” Twilight said, now with her feet firmly on the cloud. She hugged Rainbow back and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m sorry the others couldn’t make it. They’d have told you themselves, but…” Twilight looked around, gesturing at the height. Rainbow’s eyes widened and Twilight burst out laughing. “Let me guess, you forgot that it would be difficult for most of us to get up here, right?”

“No,” Rainbow said defensively, her cheeks warm. “No, I just… uh… yeah, I forgot,” she finished lamely, muttering as Twilight’s laughter grew.

“Well, be glad I still have my balloon,” Twilight said, nodding to the vehicle tethered just beside Rainbow’s house. “It took me a while to get it all set up, which is why I’m late. Fluttershy would have flown up, but with all the animals getting ready for Winter…”

“It’s cool,” Rainbow said. “Tank hibernates, so I know the feeling. It can get really chaotic near winter time just with him; how does Fluttershy cope?”

Rainbow stepped backwards and held the door wide, indicating for Twilight to come inside. Smiling and laughing, Twilight stepped past her, walking a little way into the hall before turning around.

“So what’s for dinner?” Twilight asked. “Because if it’s not better than Spike’s soup, I might just have to go home early.” Her voice was teasing, but a small part of Rainbow’s mind wasn’t quite certain that she didn’t mean it. She laughed along anyway, if more at the face that Twilight pulled than the joke itself.

“I just put together a few platefuls of sandwiches, some hay fries, salad… nothing fancy.” Rainbow stepped into the dining room, Twilight following behind her. She took a seat at the table and was surprised when Twilight took the one next to her rather than the one opposite. “Help yourself,” she said, gesturing to the table. “That is, if it’s not worse than Spike’s soup…”

Twilight laughed and leaned against Rainbow, curling up into the pegasus’ side. She picked up a sandwich and levitated it to her mouth, nibbling on it slowly as she adjusted herself for comfort. Rainbow wrapped a wing and a leg around her, quickly kissing the top of her head, before grabbing a sandwich of her own.

They sat awhile in silence, slowly eating their fill. Rainbow snuck glances down at Twilight every now and again, watching in rapt fascination as her marefriend ate the tiniest little bites from the sandwich, her eyes closed. She may have been a mare of action and adventure, but Rainbow knew she’d rather spend all day just watching Twilight eat than spend the day at work, even on one of the rare days that work provided a challenge.

“Rainbow?” Rainbow looked down again to see Twilight looking up at her with wide, curious eyes. “Do you want to talk about last night?”

“No,” Rainbow said, instinctively and sharply. She saw Twilight wince and softened her tone. “Sorry, I just… it’s too soon.”

“It didn’t go well, then?” Rainbow shook her head, closing her eyes, and she could hear Twilight’s sharp intake of breath. She felt a leg snake around her back and squeeze, and she gave Twilight a squeeze in return. “I take it you wanted everypony here for company?”

Rainbow sat in silence. She might have been dating Twilight for a while now, much longer than any serious relationship she’d had before, but she wasn’t convinced she was quite comfortable being open and honest with her about this. Frankly, the idea of being open and honest about her feelings terrified Rainbow.

“I guess?” she said eventually. “I mean, it’s nice not to be lonely when bad things happen, right?” That still sounded cool—it was the kind of way she would word mushy advice whenever Scootaloo needed somepony to look—

Twilight leaned up, clearly straining under the effort, and pressed her lips to Rainbow’s. “What was that for?”

“Do I have to have a reason to kiss my marefriend?” Twilight replied coyly, a light smile tugging at her lips. “I might just happen to like kissing her.”

“Twi, you have a reason for doing everything,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. Twilight gasped in faux-protest. “What’s your checklist for tomorrow morning?”

“Breakfast; locate missing library folder; re-organise history section; shelve returns… hey!” Rainbow burst out laughing at the pout on Twilight face, the little frown that came with being shown she was wrong. “I just like planning things, that’s all,” she added sulkily.

“I know,” Rainbow said, with an almost sing-song, ‘I told you so’ voice. “It’s one of the things I like about you. You’re always prepared, and you always know what you want to do.”

“Should be doing,” Twilight corrected. “I’m never sure what I want to be doing, and when I am it’s almost certainly something I don’t have time for. Like reading up on leyline theory, or creating a new, efficient library catalogue, or coming up here for dinner.”

It took a moment for all that to sink in for Rainbow. She helped herself to another hooful of hay fries while she thought.

“Wait a minute,” she said, after waiting what seemed an eternity to swallow, “you’re telling me you don’t have time to be here right now.”

Twilight shrugged.

“I’ve got a lot to be doing,” she said. “Usually I’m good at doing what I should be doing instead of what I want to do—it’s why I’m so good with my checklists—but when it comes to you, I tend to be pretty bad at that.”

“Still,” Rainbow said, “I don’t want to keep you here when you should be doing other things just because I was feeling a little lonely.” Twilight reached up and kissed her again, smiling as she dropped away.

“I want to be here, Rainbow,” she said. “I care about you. That and spending time with you is way more fun than an evening of study for a report Celestia wants me to review. It’s not even interesting.”

They sat in silence for some time more, enjoying each other’s company. Every now and again, Rainbow would lean down and kiss the top of Twilight’s head; it was comforting to be able to give that kind of affection, like a sign that there was someone you cared about there with you and they weren’t going away.

“Do you want to move in with me?”

The question came out of nowhere and Rainbow wasn’t entirely sure she’d even heard anything. She took a moment before looking down at Twilight who was, as expected, looking up at her with hopeful eyes and her bottom lip chewed lightly between her teeth. She considered asking Twilight to repeat the question, not entirely certain she’d heard correctly, but as she was making up her mind Twilight spoke again. “I mean, not completely move in because there’s stuff you need up here not to mention all your stuff for Tank’s hibernation is up here, but if you wanted to spend nights down in the library as more than just a one-off thing then what I guess I’m trying to say is that—”

Rainbow leaned down and caught Twilight’s lips with hers, pressing her muzzle up close against Twilight’s and kissing her with all the passion she could muster. She couldn’t think of a better way to say ‘yes’.

“Of course,” Rainbow whispered as they pulled apart, and it was Twilight’s turn to kiss Rainbow in response, and there was no better way to be thanked.


My dearest Dear Twilight,
I’m having a I’ve invited I’m hav Please come over tonight. I need you.
Lo Your Das Yours,
Rain Dash