Tales of the Sapphire Carousel: The Chef's Guardian

by Undome Tinwe

Chapter 11

Author's Note:

Warning, spoilers for Chapter 21 of Crimson Lips.

"I'm going to kill her."

Shimmer glanced up at Rainbow Dash as the bouncer entered their bedroom. "Is Rarity doing okay?" she asked, trying to ignore the discomfort of being around Dash's anger.

"I got her into bed," Dash said, slamming the door shut. Shimmer winced at the loud sound. "She should be sleeping by now, I hope. The boss said she'd keep an eye on her and told me to dip."

"That's good." There was a palpable tension in the air, and Shimmer hated it. She reached out a hand to grab Rainbow's arm in a comforting gesture. "She needs rest."

"What she needs is a girlfriend who isn't a total piece of shit." Rainbow's muscles tensed as she clenched her hands into fists. "Why even come for a show if you're just gonna talk shit about us afterwards." She snorted.

"From what you and Rarity told me, I think she really was trying to understand why Rarity was doing this." Shimmer tried to sound as soothing as possible, but she could still feel the angry heat radiating from her girlfriend's body.

Rainbow snorted. "What's there to understand? This isn't brain surgery or advanced thaumaturgical chromoscience or whatever. It's pretty simple, and she's supposed to be some kinda genius, right?"

A sudden burst of defensiveness flared up in Shimmer. "It's not that simple," she said, her grip tightening. "Not everyone thinks that sex work is such a great thing. Or that it's just a job."

The eye roll from Rainbow didn't help things. "Oh, yeah, poor Twilight Sparkle had to grow up hanging out with the rich and snotty types and now she thinks she's too good for honest work. I feel so bad for her."

"That's not the only reason someone wouldn't want to get involved in all this," Shimmer replied hotly.

"Sure, but I can bet you that her reason is exactly what I said." Rainbow was facing away from her as she spoke, and it was probably better than Shimmer couldn't see the expression on her face right now. "And it's not like Rarity didn't literally come from the same place, and she's cool with us."

"Not everyone is as understanding as Rarity," Shimmer said.

"Well, maybe someone needs to beat some understanding into her."

The crack of Rainbow's knuckle sent a frisson of terror down Shimmer's spine. Her girlfriend finally turned to face her, and the rage in her eyes rooted Shimmer in place, her hand stuck holding Rainbow's arm despite the desperate instinct screaming at her to let go and run away, to get away from this violent woman who was standing between her and the only exit, before...

Rainbow's gaze softened as her eyes widened. "Shimmer, are you okay? Shimmer, deep breaths!"

Shimmer realized that she'd been breathing rapidly, her head starting to feel a bit light as she gasped shallowly for air. Rainbow reached towards her with her other hand and Shimmer shifted away, the sudden movement allowing her to release Rainbow's other arm and distance herself fully.

"Shit!" There was no anger in Rainbow's voice now, only concern, and the sound of it kept Shimmer anchored even if it was the source of her fear. "I'm sorry, Shimmer." She backed away slowly. "I... you want me to leave you alone right now?"

Despite everything, Shimmer shook her head. This was Rainbow Dash, the woman who loved her, who would protect her no matter what. Shimmer kept telling herself that she would never hurt her, that there was nothing to be afraid of. It didn't make the icy vise on her heart go away, but the beating of her heart didn't seem to echo quite as loudly as before.

"C—Come here," she finally said, tears forming in her eyes. "Hold me, please."

"Okay, if you're sure." At her nod, Rainbow carefully walked over, keeping her arms by her side until she reached the bed that Shimmer was sitting on. Slowly, with a gentleness that most people wouldn't believe was possible from the brash bouncer, she put one hand on Shimmer's shoulder.

Shimmer flinched at the touch, but forced herself to take another deep breath. It was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay, she just needed to be held by the woman who would rather die than hurt her.

Strong arms wrapped around her, gently once again, and Shimmer leaned into the embrace, drawing strength from the body pressed against hers. Her heart still raced, but she could hear the world clearly again, and her breathing had devolved into quiet sobs. "I'm sorry," she whispered when she could find her voice again.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Rainbow said softly, stroking her hair in a calm, rhythmic manner that soothed her mind. "I'm sorry I scared you. You know I'd never hurt you, right?"

The fear and guilt in Rainbow's voice was what finally broke through the terror gripping Shimmer's heart. Or rather, it gave her something to fight against, and she used that need to comfort her beloved to focus her thoughts on leaning in and kissing her lover on the cheek. "I know that," she whispered. "I... I love you, Rainbow."

"I love you too, Shimmer," Rainbow replied, never ceasing in her stroking. "Even when I'm being a dummy."

Shimmer felt the last of the panicked energy leave her body as she slumped down against Rainbow, leaving her in a state that wasn't quite calm, but wasn't jumping at shadows anymore. "You just care about Rarity a lot," she murmured. "That's one of the things I love about you; you care so much about all of us, and I know that deep down, you just want to protect us. But you can't save us from everything that might hurt us. Some things you can't punch away."

"I just hate feeling like I can't do anything." The frustration in Rainbow's voice tugged at Shimmer's heart, now that it was separated from her anger. "Rarity is hurting so much and all I can do is sit there and tell her everything's gonna be okay like some kinda motivational speaker. What good am I if I can't punch away the thing that's hurting her?"

"You're still one of the strongest women I know, Not just here." Shimmer poked playfully at the muscles in Rainbow's arm. "But also here." Her finger then moved over to press against her chest, feeling the heartbeat beneath it. "Rarity needs someone to be strong for her, needs you to be there to listen to her cry and scream and let out her own anger. I can't be the person who does that. But you can."

"I guess I can go be mad around her instead," Rainbow said with that crooked grin that melted Shimmer's heart.

"She might appreciate it," Shimmer replied with her own hesitant smile.

"I still wanna punch Twilight though." The admission from Rainbow was laced with guilt, enough that Shimmer didn't feel the need to get away from her this time. "I still can't believe she'd just dump Rarity like that for such a... a dumb reason."

"Honestly, I'm kinda mad at her too." After all, Rarity was also her friend, and Shimmer didn't take kindly to her friends being hurt. "But going after Twilight isn't going to make things better."

"It might make me feel better," Rainbow muttered.

"I don't think so." Even as she said it, Shimmer realized she was right. "You're a protector, Rainbow. You want to stop us from getting hurt; you don't go taking revenge on other people for us. That's not you, and I think you know that deep down."

Rainbow sighed. "I guess you're right. I just... I hate not doing anything."

"I told you, just being there for Rarity is enough."

"It doesn't feel like enough." To Rainbow's surprise, Shimmer snorted at that.

"Of course it doesn't," she said. "But it's what she needs, and isn't it more important to do what Rarity needs than to feel good about doing it?"

"I guess." Rainbow's earlier smile returned, and it made the room just a little bit brighter. "We'll all probably have to help her out for a little while, huh?"

"That's the wonderful thing about the Sapphire," Shimmer said, settling in for a nice long rest with her beloved. "No one can go it alone, and we're always going to be here for each other. And who knows, maybe things will work out in the end anyways."

Comments

[SigmasonicX]

Great chapter! The interactions here were great, and it was interesting to see their viewpoints of the breakup. Shimmer panicking and Rainbow comforting her felt pretty real.