Two Years Overdue
Twilight gave a quiet murmur of contentment as she returned to the waking world. She could feel the warmth of the sun against her face, and the notably different warmth of Rainbow Dash snuggled up against her back. She hummed softly and cracked open her eyes. The sun was only just starting to come up in the distance, casting its gentle orange rays across town. A narrow line of that light slipped in through the gap in the curtains, just enough to rouse her from her slumber.
All was quiet there in the loft of the Golden Oak, and Twilight was perfectly content to leave it that way for now. Stifling a yawn, she shimmied back until she was pressed closer to Rainbow’s belly and closed her eyes. A tiny giggle slipped past her lips when she felt Rainbow nuzzling into the back of her neck.
“Mmf… G’morn…” Rainbow drowsily mumbled, her hooves curling tighter around Twilight’s own belly.
Twilight hummed and craned her neck to get a look at the sleepy pegasus. She barely kept herself from giggling again when she saw how messed up Rainbow’s mane had become after a long night of sleep. The pegasus had the worst cases of bedhead ever.
“Heh… Morning, Dash,” she whispered in response, setting her head back down.
Rainbow hummed, nuzzling her again, but did not speak. The two fell into a long, companionable silence after that, neither saying a word, merely enjoying the peace of the morning and the warmth of the other.
Eventually, Twilight shifted in place, slowly rotating around until she was facing Rainbow Dash directly, drawing a confused groan of dismay from the pegasus. “Hey, stop movin’. I’m tryna hug ya…”
Twilight rolled her eyes and rubbed her nose against Rainbow’s. “Sorry. I just wanted to look at your face, is all,” she said, not being totally dishonest.
Rainbow cracked open an eye, her lips faintly curling up into the beginnings of a self-absorbed smirk. “Yeah? Is it lookin’ good?” she asked.
“You look like you drank a mug of cider and bathed in a tub of it,” Twilight replied without missing a beat, her eyes drifting up to Rainbow’s rat's nest of a mane. “It’s kind of impressive, really.”
Rainbow pouted. “Yeah? Well, you look like… like… uh… fwah…” she grumbled before leaning forward and burying her face in Twilight’s chest fur, murmuring something unintelligible.
Twilight giggled and pulled the pegasus closer, using her wings to envelop both of them in a feathery blanket. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”
Rainbow mumbled again before pulling her head back just enough to speak. “...Your chest is soft,” she said before burying her face again.
Twilight laughed at that, resting her chin on Rainbow’s head. “Nice dodge, Rainbow.”
“Mmph. Thanks.”
With one last giggle, Twilight fell silent, simply enjoying the feeling of Rainbow pressed up against her. She gave off a relaxed sigh. This. This was perfect. She could stay right here until the end of time and be perfectly happy, she decided. Just her, the warmth of the morning sun on her back, and her sleepy girlfriend cuddling her in the bed they shared. Peaceful. Serene. Tranquil. Not a care in the world.
The serenity, sadly, was doomed to be short-lived. Twilight’s smile faltered as the contents of her dream began to resurface in her mind: Luna’s sudden intervention, their brief tension, the revelation of Rainbow and Fluttershy’s spoken concerns, and Luna’s gently given advice.
Twilight’s brow furrowed, and she leaned back a bit to look into Rainbow’s face. The pegasus blinked open her eyes to stare back at her, looking a little confused. “Hm? Wha? Somethin’ wrong?”
“I, uh… I had a dream last night,” Twilight whispered, her smile fading away entirely. “A nightmare, really…”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow asked, swiftly coming to her senses. She pulled Twilight a little closer. “I thought that’s what it was…”
Twilight blinked. “Huh?”
Rainbow sighed. “Ya kinda started tossing and turning in the middle of the night. Jostled me. Woke me up. I was gonna wake you, but you calmed down pretty quickly. After that, I figured I’d let ya sleep and just cuddled ya from behind. And that’s, ya know, why I’m big spoon this morning.”
Twilight blinked. It had never even occurred to her that she had typically been the one doing the holding in the past. She blushed and giggled sheepishly, her ears folding. “Aha, yes, right, okay, that makes sense…” she said awkwardly. She then rolled onto her back and looked up to the ceiling, her serious expression returning.
“...What was it about?” Dash asked a moment later, keeping one foreleg under Twilight.
Twilight hummed. “I was… running. Along the road up to Canterlot. It was pitch-dark out, and something was chasing me. It kept… talking to me, in my voice, taunting me, mocking me. When I got to the gates, they wouldn’t open…” she began to recount the dream, a chill starting to seep into her veins. “I called for Celestia, Luna, Cadance. My mom and dad. Anypony to open the gate and save me… But nopony came. And then the… the thing was on me.”
“Thing?” Midnight asked in offense. “You know perfectly well what I am, don’t use such derogatory terms.”
“So says my inner demon who calls me an idiot on a routine basis!” Twilight shot back, not allowing her frustration with the inner voice to manifest on her face.
“But then… the thing was gone. And… Luna was there,” she went on, turning her head to one side to look at Rainbow.
Rainbow’s eyes widened, and she propped herself up on her elbow. “She did? That’s good. She give ya good advice?”
Twilight nodded. “She did, after we worked through some… personal issues, I guess. But…” she met Rainbow’s gaze again, her brow tilted with anxiety. “Rainbow… she told me that you and Fluttershy told her about how I was doing.”
“Of course we did,” Rainbow replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. A few seconds passed before a look of alarmed realization dawned on her face “What, did you not want us to? Are you still angry with her after, well… how she treated you?”
Twilight shook her head. “No! Well… maybe I am, a little, but that’s not the point,” she relented with a tired sigh. “I just… is it really that bad?”
Rainbow grimaced, then nodded. “...Your anger issues? Yeah, they’re pretty bad. I’ve never seen you blow up so much over such little things. I mean, it’s usually a lot of little things all piling up that get to you, not one or two minor inconveniences… And after what happened in Canterlot, I...”
“...You’re worried I might Fall again?” Twilight asked knowingly.
Rainbow opened her mouth as if to offer a denial, but she held her tongue. A second passed before she sighed and nodded. “Y-yeah, I guess. I mean, I know that you being really… angry with m-me is what led to you Falling in the first place. And now you’re so easily agitated, and I just… I wanna look out for you, ya know? I just got you back…”
Twilight smiled, then leaned in to give Rainbow a soft kiss on the lips. The pegasus stiffened at first, then quickly reciprocated the unprompted gesture of affection. A few moments later, they parted, faces flushed and eyes shining with newfound wakefulness.
“...I appreciate it, Rainbow,” Twilight whispered to her with a warm smile. “I really do. Luna’s talk with me was pretty helpful, actually… so thank you.”
Rainbow’s distant look reformed, her trademark smirk—albeit a smaller version—returning. “Heh. Anytime, Twi,” she said casually. “What did she suggest you do?”
Twilight hummed, her smile fading as she thought back on her chat with the Princess of the Night. “Well… she told me not to worry too much about the Chest, or my banishment from Canterlot…”
“I don’t see you doing that.”
“Shut up,” Twilight bit back playfully, giving Rainbow a little shove. “I can focus on other things instead!”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. I believe you.”
“I’m serious!”
“Like what?”
Twilight jabbed Rainbow in the tummy with a hoof, making her burst out into breathless giggles and roll away. Twilight then rose to her hooves and positioned herself over Rainbow, her hooves on either side of the pegasus’ head. She made direct eye contact with Rainbow, whose giggles swiftly fell silent. She stared back up at Twilight like a deer in the headlight of a speeding train, her eyes wide and transfixed by Twilight’s.
Twilight grinned and poked her in the belly again, gently this time. “You, you featherbrain.”
Rainbow blinked a few times, and Twilight could practically see the cogs turning in her head as her sleepy mind processed that. “...Oh.”
“As it so happens,” Twilight purred, leaning in just a little closer. “Luna also suggested that I focus on spending time with you…”
Rainbow blushed furiously at that, her wings twitching at her sides. “Ahah, ahem, uh… h-how so?” she asked sheepishly.
Twilight paused at that, her own train of thought grinding to a sudden halt. She slid back and off of Rainbow with a thoughtful hum, her brow furrowing. “Uh… well… Honestly? I dunno. This is all kinda new to me. Ya know, the relationship thing.”
Rainbow propped herself up on her elbows, looking briefly disappointed about something, but was quick to regain her composure. “Well, I mean… Ya could just, I dunno… kiss me? And stuff?”
“See, we already do that,” Twilight pointed out. “And that’s kinda the assumed default state in a romantic relationship, isn’t it?”
“Er… maybe?” Rainbow shrugged. “I’m not an expert here, Twi. You’d have better luck asking Rarity how this crud’s supposed to work.”
“But Rarity isn’t my girlfriend,” Twilight pointed out matter of factly. “You are. And our relationship isn’t exactly the picture of a common romance, either, so Rarity’s advice would probably not be super applicable anyways.”
“Give her five minutes,” Rainbow deadpanned. “Just five. She’ll figure something out.”
“Well, even if that’s the case,” Twilight rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that morning alone. “Again, she isn’t my girlfriend. You are. And, well… I feel like, however we do this, it should be figured out by us.”
Rainbow forced herself up onto her haunches, stretching out her wings in the process and filling the air with a few deeply satisfying pops. “M’kay, fair point. What were you thinking, then?”
“Well, we already live together,” Twilight pointed out, gesturing at the library around them. “Hay, we sleep together, too. And we’ve been doing at least one of those things for the last, what, three years?”
“Somethin’ like that,” Rainbow confirmed.
“So, if my admittedly limited understanding of these things is anything to go off of, then in a usual relationship, we’d basically be past the dating stage by now.”
“Kay, I’m following you so far.”
“But our relationship, again, isn’t exactly normal. I mean, I first found out you had feelings for me in Hollow Shades, and I didn’t finally put two and two together and get four about my own feelings until we were in the Crystal Empire, and all of that was in the middle of the most stressful string of events we’ve lived through.”
Rainbow’s expression darkened somewhat. “Er, right…”
Twilight paused, immediately regretting how she had put that. For a brief moment, it had slipped her mind that she’d died back then, and how hard Rainbow had taken it. She placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. “...The point I’m getting at is we never even had a dating phase. We just kinda… uh… ‘noveled’ it, I guess.”
“Noveled it?”
“Yeah, you know. Like all those romance novels Rarity likes to read.”
“What, the trashy ones?”
Twilight’s comforting hoof shoved Rainbow lightly. “No, Rainbow, the classy ones.”
Rainbow smirked. “You make it sound like Rarity thinks there’s a difference.”
“Oh, for the love of- You know what I mean!” Twilight whined, her wings flaring up in mild exasperation. “I’m talking about the ones where the lovers go through some harrowing experience and, in the process, discover they love each other, kinda seeming to skip the dating part of the process altogether. That? That’s us.”
Rainbow blinked, tilting her head to one side. “Are… are you saying we’re characters in a romance novel?”
“Oh, I hope not,” Twilight scoffed in dismissal. Being a character in a book. How ridiculous. “After everything we’ve been through, if it turned out we were the product of somepony’s imagination, I’d probably punch him.”
“You and me both,” Rainbow agreed, lifting a hoof as if for a toast.
They shared a short laugh. Twilight regained her composure a moment later and went on. “But, the point is… We skipped a step that I think a lot of real romances kinda need. And, so…”
“Do we need it, though?” Rainbow asked skeptically. “I mean, I already know you like the back of my good hoof. Isn’t dating supposed to be the ‘getting to know the other one’ part of the process or something?”
“Rainbow, this is about the process,” Twilight deadpanned. “There is an order to this stuff! I won’t feel right if we just go around skipping steps and jumping around in the order of events!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Guh. Okay, so, what? You wanna take me on a date or something?”
“YES!”
Rainbow blinked, her smile fading. “Uh, I was kinda kidding.”
“And I,” Twilight shot back, poking Rainbow in the chest again. “Was not.”
Rainbow’s cheeks flushed again. “Uh… do we gotta? I mean, I love you to bits, yeah, but…” she cringed, her wings poofing up as if to shield herself from view. “You know how I feel about showing it where others can see…”
“I mean, it doesn’t have to be all full of kisses and hugs and all that,” Twilight pointed out. “That’s for when we’re in private, anyway.”
“Well, I mean, then what do we do on a date? Cause kissing and hugging and making you squirm are kinda the hallmarks from where I’m sitting,” Rainbow complained, giving Twilight the impression that, somehow, neither of them were very well-educated on the finer points of having a love life.
Nevertheless, Twilight smiled and took one of Rainbow’s hooves in hers. “Well, we can just… be together, you know? Go somewhere nice, talk, kill time. Just the two of us. That’s how it usually works.”
Rainbow stared blankly at her for a moment. “So… what we normally do, then?”
“Spike is usually with us,” Twilight pointed out. “This would be just us. You and me. Nopony else…”
Rainbow hummed thoughtfully at that for a few seconds. She then gave a noncommittal shrug. “Okay, I guess… Where do you wanna go?”
“Let’s start simple!” Twilight chirped, her wings giving an exciting flap. “Let’s just go and get some lunch later! Eat out, somewhere nice.”
Rainbow chuckled and nodded. “Okay, I guess that’s fine. Just make sure it ain’t a salad joint, alright? I need my carbs!”
Twilight’s grin grew, and she threw herself against Rainbow in a warm hug. “It’s a date!” she squealed delightedly, the force of her body knocking Rainbow back into the bed.
“Oof! Heh, yep, it is,” Rainbow replied, chuckling. She patted Twilight on the head a few times before falling still and quiet. The two remained there for a while, perfectly still and silent.
Twilight hummed, burying her face in Rainbow’s chest fur. Her stomach was filled with a swarm of butterflies, making her feel like giggling like a lunatic. She couldn’t stop the giant, goofy grin from spreading on her muzzle as a four-word sentence repeated in her head over and over again.
“I have a date. I have a date!”
Her train of repeating thought came to an end when Rainbow cleared her throat. “Uh… you gonna lemme get up so I can shower? Can’t take you out to lunch looking and smelling like this.”
Twilight groaned in refusal, cuddling closer. “No. You can wait a few minutes.”
Rainbow smiled and let her head fall back. “Heh. Okay, fair enough…” she mumbled quietly, before allowing a serene silence to fill the room.
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Heyo!
REALLY good job on the chat between Twilight and Rainbow in this chapter. Yeah, loved how Twilight told Rainbow about her nightmare as well as Rainbow admitting how she and Fluttershy were the ones that alerted Luna to Twilight's mental distress. And they both had points about how many ups and downs their relationship had AND how well they know each other.
Anyway, very certainly looking forward to more of this.
10319187
"PINKIE GET IN HERE!!!! THE FOURTH WALL NEEDS BREAKING!!!!"
Been a few chapters since I’ve left a review on this story! Shame on me.
I think the #1 thing Twilight could do for herself is to be honest about what she’s experiencing. She keeps having these little mental sidebars with Midnight, but she never mentions it to anyone. Evidently, Luna understands what she’s going through, but does Rainbow realize Twilight has an invisible devil perched on her shoulder, constantly whispering in her ear? Do any of her friends realize it?
If she opened up to Rainbow about exactly what she’s going through, Rainbow would be able to support her a whole lot better. Twilight would be wise to speak up and let Rainbow know every time Midnight starts talking to her, so Rainbow could be there to hold her up and tell Midnight to put a sock in it.
I’m glad to see Luna’s making time for Twilight, even if she still has a lot to answer for and her help is coming far too late.
Meta!
You know, I think it’s totally in-character for Twilight to want to do dating by the book, but I kind of figured this conversation was going somewhere else. When I got to this line:
I was sure Twilight was about to say they ought to get past the snuggles and go right to the sex.
10319460
i.ibb.co/GnnNfz2/65d.jpg
10319515
I don't get the reference, so I'll take the creepy E face as proof positive that you agree with me! The two of them need to quit dragging their hooves and get it on, already! You can cut through the sexual tension like warm butter!
Edit: I mean, come on, it's right there in the title! Two years overdue!
10319526
XD
1) It's a meme. I don't get it either, but it's a meme and its funny.
2) That 'E' is the Fimfiction E rating. This story is rated E. Aside from hidden subtle jokes, sex ain't gonna come up.
Cute chapter!
10319460
Or marriage.
10319536
Aww, not even off-screen and vaguely implied?
At the risk of sounding creepy, pushing for sex between candy-colored cartoon horses — kisses and cuddles will only take you so far when you're writing romance! Sex is an important step in the progress of any relationship. It's what's natural and expected. I understand the story is rated E, but don't compromise too much for the sake of meeting an arbitrary rating! You've done an exceptional job with this series so far, but if you want to continue to portray believable characters with a believable relationship, you might consider pushing that boundary a teeeeeensy bit.
Just my two cents, take it or leave it!
10319579
Off-screen and vaguely implied at the very most. And not for a while, yet. XD
Very cute
Where’d she hit ya, Ski? LOL
Don’t couples have date nights even after they get serious with each other anyway?
10320562
I would not know. I am projecting my inexperience onto my characters. I am pathetically under-informed and inexperienced with how real-world romance works.
Skijarama, you better watch out. Your characters are plotting against you.
Jokes aside, I love this series a lot, and I can't wait for the next chapter
-Sunny
10329358
Pinkie Sense Tingling there is a disturbance in the Force
Hmmm...
ok then um... oh boy
this chapter had me thinking.
"
twilight do i need to get you the foals guide on the 'birds&bees' "