Autumn Closing In

A distant rumble of thunder woke Rarity in the black of the night. A warm, wet wind blew over her messy hair, and the air was heavy and humid with the smell of summer rain.

She felt the grass under her body, a blanket the only thing separating it from the white skin of her bare back. She moved her right arm and let her hand run over that dry grass, dry and stiff from two, almost three weeks without rain. Her fingers snapped a few blades between them, and a speck of dirt wormed its way under her nail. She tried to dig it out with the back of her thumbnail, to little avail. Oh well. It wasn’t important enough to go at it with her other hand and disturb her partner, who snored softly over her left arm, a bundle of warmth to hold onto under the sheet that shielded them from the outside world.

White eyelids fluttered open, and bright blue eyes looked up at the sky, at the receding stars above them. The moon was full, and its light cast the encroaching gray storm clouds in a soft silver silhouette. Soon, they would drift overhead, and the night sky would be lost to her until the storm passed. An endless ocean of stars and constellations, hidden by a blanket of gray.

Would they still be the same when the storm passed?

Her eyes drifted to her partner, her long lashes blinking the midnight weariness away. A blue woman with rainbow hair lay asleep with her head on Rarity’s chest, using her breast as a makeshift pillow. Well… ‘woman’ may have been a stretch. She was a girl—Rarity was, too—fresh out of high school, ready to claim independence without knowing what it meant. She was eighteen; Rarity would be nineteen tomorrow. And tomorrow, their long summer would end.

Rarity lifted her left hand to her partner’s blue back and gently traced circles in the gap between her shoulder blades. She just wanted to live in the moment, enjoy this night before the break of day, but the distant thunder only reminded her that it would come to an end. She couldn’t help it; her mind wandered back to the beginning, the peak of spring, those bright days growing longer, growing into something beautiful…

-----

Of all the places it could have started, it started in a museum, on a class field trip.

It had been a technology exhibit of some kind—electronics, maybe? Twilight and Sunset had dragged the rest of the group into it, and Rarity had gone along, if only to feign interest for her friends. But after an hour, she’d found an excuse to duck out and go do something else. On her way to the restroom to establish her alibi, she found Rainbow Dash sitting upside down on a bench in the middle of an exhibit, her colorful hair draped on the floor, her feet waving in the air, her ruby eyes glued to her cell-phone as she scrolled through social media.

Rarity had stopped in front of her and crossed her arms, waiting until Rainbow looked up from her phone and noticed her before she spoke. “Enjoying the museum, Rainbow?”

“Meh. It’s no sports museum or soccer hall of fame.” She locked her phone and tucked it into her pocket, before sliding all the way off of the bench until she was looking up at Rarity from flat on the floor. “You?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Rarity admitted. “I’d much rather find a history exhibit on Victorian fashion, or at least an art gallery to draw inspiration from. Technology isn’t the most interesting thing in the world to me.”

“Word.” Rainbow kicked her legs out and clumsily hopped to her feet, staggering for a moment when she came up off balance. Rarity put a hand on her shoulder to steady her, though Rainbow shrugged it off as quickly as she could to maintain her air of cool before realizing that was rude. “Err… thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I won’t.” Rainbow looked around, awkwardly chuckled, and scratched her head, her blue fingers diving into the seam between the green and purple parts of her hair. “So, uh… wanna skip town?”

Rarity blinked. “Pardon me?”

The athletic girl shrugged, and her left hand emerged from her pocket with the keys to her Mustang looped around her finger. “I’m parked in the parking lot. Say the word, and we can be outta here in a jiffy.”

“But didn’t you take the bus in with the rest of us?” Rarity asked her.

“I parked here last night and jogged home so I’d have the option,” Rainbow said. “Didn’t feel like taking the bus back to school just to drive home when we’re done anyway.” When Rarity didn’t say anything, the blue girl looked away and tucked her keys back in her pocket. “Eh, forget I said anything. Tell the girls I wasn’t feeling good or something, so they’re not worried about me.”

Rarity wasn’t sure what made her pick her next words, but she picked them all the same. “I’ll send them a text,” she said, and she placed a slender white hand on her hip. “Where were you thinking of going?”

Rainbow seemed surprised, but she didn’t comment on it. “Dunno. The lake maybe? It’s spring, it’s finally warm enough to go there again.”

“The lake…” A tiny smile curved the corner of Rarity’s white lips. “I’d like that, I think.”

“Cool.” Once more, Rainbow’s keys flashed into the air with a twirl, and she shot Rarity a little smirk. “If you see any teachers, act natural, got it?”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” Rarity said, and the two girls made their way to the nearest exit and slipped out the door.

-----

It was at that lake a month later when Rainbow confessed to Rarity that she had a crush on her.

Rarity almost didn’t hear it; she had been watching a pair of swallows flitting through the trees lining the lake, filling the air with birdsong and their energetic antics. But when she turned back to Rainbow to ask her to repeat herself, she saw the usually cocksure and confident soccer star anxiously wringing her hands together and grinding a stone into the dirt beneath her shoe. “I’m sorry?”

Rainbow winced. Hard. “Eeesh. Just pretend I didn’t say that, then…”

“No, darling, I just didn’t hear you,” Rarity said, raising an eyebrow. “What did you have to say?”

“I said… well. Shit.” She sucked in a deep breath, and then blurted it out all at once: “I like you, Rarity. Like, a lot. You’re… cool.”

A rosy red fluster colored Rainbow’s cheeks, and soon, Rarity’s began to match them. Both girls struggled to make eye contact, instead looking down at each other’s shoes. Birds sang, ducks quacked, and a fish splashed through the waters of the lake before Rarity decided how to respond to Rainbow’s confession. “I… t-thank you, Rainbow.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow cleared her throat, and she managed to summon enough courage to try and look Rarity in the eyes. “I know, uh, dudes are probably more your thing, but…”

The unspoken question was easy enough to hear: Do you like me back?

Answering it was harder. A hundred different emotions and thoughts all tried to jam their way through Rarity’s mind. She had enjoyed spending time with Rainbow over the past month. Hopping in Rainbow’s Mustang and then spending delightful spring afternoons down by the lake had been the highlights of her weekends. Even her parents had noted that she seemed like a different girl, like she was walking on clouds, since she started hanging out with Rainbow more often. Her dad had teased her that a high school sports star and a fashion designer certainly made an odd couple, but he wasn’t one to judge.

But, well, Rainbow was right. Rarity hadn’t pictured herself dating another girl before. She’d had a couple of boyfriends throughout high school, and once she’d let one get his hands under her shirt, but they always broke up for one reason or another. Rarity didn’t know what she was looking for in a romantic partner, and she’d spent her time trying to find what she liked best about the boys at school. She’d only ever regarded girls through the eye of a fashion designer, like a scientist studying microbes under a microscope: clinical, professional, distant.

Even still, she couldn’t deny that there was something about Rainbow Dash that had drawn her to the athlete. Maybe it was the confidence, or her dedication to her friends. It spoke volumes about her character. And even though she could be rough around the edges, and she liked to get down in the dirt and roughhouse with her friends and competitors, Rarity saw something of herself inside of her. They both had that ambition, that desire to go out and achieve greatness, to change the world, to be famous and successful. It was something so many people lacked, especially high school teenagers. It was something Rarity’s exes had lacked. Maybe that was why her relationships never lasted.

Maybe… this could be different?

Rarity looked up, her eyes slowly wandering over Rainbow’s body. She was slim and athletic, her muscles well-toned, her athletic jacket and overlong basketball shorts obscuring but not entirely concealing the shape of her body. When she smiled, her confidence was infectious, and instantly reassured people as if it said, "Yes, you can do this!" The shape of her face was like a work of art, even the tiny crook to her nose, a memory of when she’d taken a cleat to the face at a soccer game and broke it. Behind the rough edges, she had a simple, natural beauty to her face that she did her best to hide under her tomboyish behavior. Rarity wondered what it would be like to be able to see that face every day.

Why not? Why not take a chance and find out?

Slowly, hesitantly, Rarity raised her hand, her fingers at first limp but soon straightening. Rainbow stood still like a statue, watching her, wondering, waiting. She flinched when Rarity reached out to her face, but when Rarity put her white fingers against Rainbow’s blue cheek, she placed her own hand over hers. The two girls locked eyes, taller Rarity looking down, shorter Rainbow looking up, a small smile taking root and spreading on each of their faces.

Rainbow stepped forward, her arm reaching around behind Rarity and drawing them together in a hug. Rarity couldn’t help but giggle once as she closed her eyes and leaned into it. Rainbow’s forehead rested against her chin, her colorful hair tickling Rarity’s nose, filling it with the sweet scent of her shampoo. She felt Rainbow’s hands on her back, and she remembered what it was like to have somebody to hug and be close to.

It would just be the first of many hugs to come throughout the summer.

-----

Rarity would never forget the night they graduated. She knew Rainbow wouldn’t, either.

The ceremony had been everything Rarity had imagined. Fanfare, a moving speech by Sunset Shimmer about the friends they’d all made in their time at the school and the lessons they’d all learned, an address to the students and their parents by Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. She felt almost like a runway model as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma, and she felt extra proud about all the hard work she had put in in the last semester to graduate with honors and earn that special sash to wear along with her cap and gown.

Afterwards, she, Rainbow, and their friends had all gone out to dinner with their parents, and following that, the seven girls went to Rainbow’s house to celebrate. There, they chattered about their favorite high school memories, what it was like to finally graduate, the senior week trip to the beach they had planned, and many, many more things. It certainly helped that Rainbow’s dad had conveniently ‘forgotten’ a mini-keg of beer he’d left on the kitchen table when the girls came over, and nobody felt keen on reminding him about it.

It was well past midnight when Rainbow Dash sat down next to Rarity, leaned up against her, and kissed her cheek with her sweet blue lips. Rarity hummed and leaned into the smaller girl, her drink almost sloshing onto her skirt in her unsteady hand. They sat on the couch for a moment and idly watched as Sunset, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie played some kind of card game, while Fluttershy watched from the sidelines and Applejack snored on the recliner. Soon, Rainbow took Rarity’s hand in hers, and she tugged it ever so slightly away from the couch. Red eyes met blue, and Rarity nodded in hazy understanding. Without a word, the two girls stood up and slipped away, hands locked together and fingers intertwined, their shoulders and hips brushing as they went up the stairs to Rainbow’s bedroom.

Rainbow shut the door behind them, cutting off the light from the stairwell and bathing them in darkness. With only the silver light of the moon shining through Rainbow’s window to illuminate their surroundings, the two girls turned to face each other. Rarity felt her heart begin to accelerate as Rainbow stood up on her tip-toes to press her lips against hers, and soon the two girls were hugging and kissing as they gradually drifted back, closer and closer to Rainbow’s bed in the corner.

The bed soon made contact with the back of Rarity’s knees, and the two girls fell onto the mattress with a surprised gasp, followed shortly by quiet giggles. Rainbow lay on top of Rarity, the two girls kissing some more, before they finally came up for air. Chest to chest and with legs and hair tangled together, they paused, with Rainbow running her thumb down Rarity’s cheek, and with Rarity holding one of her hands against Rainbow’s waist.

There they hesitated, each one searching the other’s eyes for permission to go ahead. They were nervous, anxious, and a little bit scared, Rarity could tell. Her heart was aflutter with nerves, and Rainbow’s eyes were a little wide, a little bit flighty, and Rarity could feel her thumb trembling against her face. Swallowing, Rarity spoke in a whisper. “You’ve never done this before, have you?”

Rainbow shook her head. “No,” she said, her voice a tiny squeak.

The admission put Rarity a little more at ease. “Me neither,” she whispered back. “I never let any of my exes get this far…”

They locked eyes, studying each other’s faces. The moonlight gave Rainbow’s light blue face an almost heavenly glow, softening the contours of her face. Her eyes glistened with that light; she looked like an angel come down from on high to be with her tonight. Rarity reached up with a hand and slipped her fingers through Rainbow’s hair, and after a moment, gave the back of her head a little push to bring their lips back together again. They kissed, slow and sweet and tender, their lips locking and tongues touching as if they could chase away their worries through that little action alone. Then Rainbow kissed her again, and again, and again, each time growing more passionate, and Rarity felt Rainbow’s hands worming their way up her shirt, reaching, groping…

“Do it,” Rarity managed between kisses, her own fingers trying to pry Rainbow free of her clothes. “Do it, darling…”

Within moments, they’d piled their clothes on the floor by Rainbow’s bed, and Rarity felt the warmth of Rainbow’s skin pressed directly against hers. It was thrilling, electric, and even felt just a little bit illicit. They tumbled across the sheets, turning them into a wrinkled mess as they moved this way and that, exploring, squeezing, touching, and acting on instinct alone. It was short, messy, and clumsy, an awkward dance of two teenagers who had no idea what they were doing and flying by the seat of their pants. But when it was over, Rarity felt like she’d been filled up with a happy pink glow, and she and Rainbow clung onto each other for dear life in Rainbow’s bed, their sweaty skin sticking them together like lovers who could never be separated.

“Don’t let me go, Rares,” Rainbow whispered, burying her face into Rarity’s neck. “Don’t ever let me go.”

“I won’t,” Rarity whispered back. “I won’t, Rainbow.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

But even as she said it, both girls knew it wasn’t a promise they could keep.

-----

They rode that high through the summer, spending as much time as they could together, loathe to be apart for too long. Both girls knew they were on borrowed time; the golden carefree days of summer wouldn’t last forever. It would be autumn soon enough, and the next chapter of their lives would beckon.

But they did their best to ignore it, instead focusing on the here and now as much as they could. Their days were filled with day trips with their friends, or just lazy afternoons and evenings down by the lake. And they snuck out often enough in the evening to practice their night moves, as it were. Rainbow’s Mustang gave them the freedom to go wherever they wanted, to find privacy wherever it could be found. Rarity wondered if her parents knew about her escapades with Rainbow, but they never said anything that tipped their hand. But she did notice that they started to leave the lamp on in the living room whenever they went to bed…

But as summer slipped into August, it became harder and harder to ignore what was coming next, as much as neither girl wanted to talk about it. Rainbow had won a full scholarship to play soccer for one of the country’s best colleges, and Rarity would be attending a university with a world-renowned fashion design program. The two schools were on opposite ends of the country, and both would demand all of their time and attention to succeed. And as much as each girl loved the other, or at least thought they did, neither was willing to sacrifice their choice of school for the other.

Those worries finally boiled over after they left the movie theater one night, the two girls sitting quietly in the dark of Rainbow’s Mustang, an anxious, icy chill hanging in the air between them.

“I… my flight’s in two weeks,” Rainbow said, staring at the steering wheel, the keys sitting in the ignition but not yet turned.

“I know,” Rarity quietly answered. “On my birthday.”

“I… I know.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry,” Rainbow said.

“Why should you be?” Rarity asked. Though she had meant it as a genuine question, the bitterness in her voice colored it as an accusation.

Rainbow bristled. “I pledged before we started dating, you know. Don’t try to blame it on me.”

“I’m not blaming it on you!” Rarity protested, looking aside at Rainbow, whose knuckles started to turn white as she gripped the steering wheel in frustration. She opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, then crossed her arms and looked out the window instead. It took her a few seconds more to try to soothe things over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I…” A sigh. A beat. A clearing of the throat. “What’s gonna happen to us?”

Rarity shivered, and she squeezed her eyes shut, as if she could will the conversation away. But there was no willing it away, no escape. And as much as she didn’t want to talk about it, she knew she had to. “I don’t know, Rainbow…”

Rainbow pursed her lips and looked out the driver’s side window at the lights of cars moving through the parking lot. “You’ll still call me… right?”

“Of course I will, darling.” Rarity put her hand over Rainbow’s, and after a second, Rainbow relaxed her grip on the wheel so Rarity could take it in hers. Slowly, the blue teenager looked at Rarity, and Rarity gave her hand a squeeze. “Just because we’re going to other sides of the country doesn’t mean we aren’t going to keep talking to each other. The girls and us, we’re all going our own ways in life… but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop being friends, does it?”

“I hope not,” Rainbow said, and she squeezed Rarity’s hand back like she was afraid it would slip through her fingers. “But I just… What’s it gonna be like when we aren’t together anymore? Will we ever be as close as we are now?”

Rarity didn’t know if Rainbow was referring to all the girls… or just her. “I couldn’t say,” she admitted. “But I know that we have to keep moving forward. That’s the only thing we can do, right? We aren’t going to be teenagers forever.”

Rainbow winced and looked down. Rarity wasn’t sure if she was imagining things, but she thought she saw a glint of crystal beading on Rainbow’s eyelashes—not that Rainbow would ever let Rarity see her emotions get the better of her. “All I wanted when I was a kid was to grow up and be a big girl,” Rainbow said in a hushed voice. “But now… I just wish I had a little more time to enjoy it.”

The words cut to Rarity’s heart—precisely because she realized she felt the same way. All of the daydreams she had of finally being done with school and graduating, of finally entering the world on her own as an independent adult, felt like nothing when she realized that she’d never get these days back again. This summer with Rainbow had been magical… but it was coming to an end. And she’d never have these summer nights back.

“We still have these two weeks,” Rarity said, trying to offer Rainbow a comforting smile. “It’s not… it’s not over yet, darling. No matter what happens next, we still have them. We still have each other. Just for a little while, at least.”

Rarity gave Rainbow’s hand one last squeeze, and then she leaned closer to her girlfriend. Rainbow met her halfway, and the two shared a kiss in the dark of the car. Rarity felt her lip quiver; she heard Rainbow stifle a small sniffle. She knew they were both wondering the same thing: how many more kisses until the last one? How many hugs until a thousand miles separated them from each other? And even after all that, when they came back from college for the winter and could be with each other again…

…would they still love each other?

“Don’t let me go,” Rainbow had said. “Don’t ever let me go.” But here they were, and Rarity could feel her grip loosening.

And there was nothing either girl could do about it.

-----

Another bout of thunder rumbled in the distance. Rarity wondered how far away it was as she lay under the sheet, Rainbow’s head on her breast. The winds rippled the fabric, and the reeds around the lake hissed.

It was strange how the night moved.

The two girls had done everything in their power to get this one last night together. Rainbow’s flight would leave in the morning, and Rarity would have to celebrate her birthday with the rest of her friends, but without the girl she’d grown so close to over the summer. So instead, Rainbow had given Rarity her gifts that afternoon, and as soon as it was dark, the two girls had hopped into her Mustang and slipped down to the lake they loved so much. There, in the dark and without another car in sight, they enjoyed each other’s company to its fullest. Rarity had brought a blanket and sheets, and the two girls made love under the stars, down by the water’s edge. It had been intense and passionate, but also sad in a way. Sad, because Rarity knew it was likely the last time they would get to enjoy each other’s company like that.

There weren’t any promises to be made this time; both girls knew they wouldn’t be kept, anyway. There was no promise to make a long-distance relationship, to find some way to make it work. There was no promise to wait for the other until they could be together again. There was no promise to resist the temptations of being a freshman in college and think about the other on the other side of the country. The only promise they made was the one they’d made with the rest of their friends: to call and write often, to keep everyone updated on what college was like. Pinkie Pie made sure everyone swore to post pictures in their group chat and say something every day, even if it was only a simple ‘Hey girls!’ But that was it.

The two girls didn’t say anything when the sex was done, instead enjoying the quiet company of their last night together. Rainbow had drifted off to sleep fairly quickly; Rarity followed her after a few minutes. But the rumbles of thunder had awoken Rarity again, and now she was alone with her thoughts, alone save for the warmth of Rainbow’s naked body against her own.

Summer was turning into autumn in more ways than one. The seasons were changing, but so were their lives. Rarity would be nineteen in the morning, embarking on her final year of being a teenager. She would be off to college a week after Rainbow left, beginning a new chapter of her life. But this summer had shown her that the summer of her life was beginning to fade. Those glorious, carefree teenage years, where the only expectations placed on her shoulders were to be a good student in school and a good daughter at home… those were ending. She was gaining independence, with all the highs and lows that came with it. Soon she would be an adult in its fullest, carving her own way through life, forging her own path with no handrails to steady herself on should she slip. She would be an adult with her own job, own life, own worries and own problems. The only thing she would have of her teenage summer would be her memories.

But they would be sweet memories, memories she would hold onto for the rest of her years. And she had Rainbow to thank for that. Rainbow had shown her so much, taught her so much. She had learned so much about herself that she never had known before, all because she’d skipped a field trip with Rainbow. What would the last summer of her childhood have been like if she hadn’t?

A song her father loved to listen to on the radio wormed its way into her mind, and she started to quietly hum it to herself. Suddenly, she understood why her father loved it so much. Suddenly, she understood just what the singer and his raw voice were singing about. She closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath as she tried to not get overwhelmed by it all.

It was strange how the night moves with autumn closing in.

She buried her nose in Rainbow’s hair and took a deep breath, inhaling her scent for the last time.

Author's Note:

For those of us in our summer years, may you never forget these nights.
And for those of us in our autumn years, may we always remember those night moves of our youth.

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