• Published 10th Oct 2012
  • 7,776 Views, 294 Comments

A Rainbow in the Dark - FeignedSincerity



Rainbow Dash has a fear that nopony knows about, but that's about to change.

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2. No Sign of the Morning Comin'

The morning came as a surprising delight to Twilight. She still felt a rather large, unfamiliar bundle in her bed, snuggled up close to her chest. As certain as her near-photographic memory, the image she portrayed was the same. It was a prismatically maned pegasus, her cyan coat blending into Twilights lavender as the two cuddled. Rainbow hadn’t awoken yet.

“Wake up sleepy head,” Twilight whispered into her friends ear, using the gentlest tone she could muster. “The darkness is gone.”

Rainbow yawned, letting out another adorable sigh that once again stirred the lightness in Twilight’s innards. Blinking her eyes open a few times, she groaned. “Yo Twi... What’s up?”

“Nothing Rainbow,” Twilight responded, a smile slowly engulfing her reddening cheeks. “Just making sure you’re ok.”

Almost as if a switch were flipped, Rainbow shoved both hooves away from her and knocked herself out of the bed. Hitting the floor with a solid thump, she sat upright, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Whoa, ok Twi, I know we’re close but slow down there!” Her tone was clearly in jest, but more so shocked. It was apparent to her that perhaps things were working a little faster than she intended.

Twilight just sat there, still engulfed in her blankets, and the smile on her face dissipated. “Rainbow... I just...” Her heart began to sink, realizing that it would likely just be a one night thing.

The look on Twilight’s face did register to Rainbow Dash of course. Her face became worried, rather than her sarcastic scowl. “Hey, I didn’t mean to... What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...” Twilight muttered, low enough to just barely be audible. “I’m sorry...”

Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat, finally realizing what was going on. Twilight was really upset, a factor that Rainbow hadn’t accounted for. She made her way back over to the bed, and let herself fall back onto the mattress, producing a satisfied sigh. “Lay back Twi, I know you want to talk.”

This was the second time Twilight was completely shocked by Rainbow’s actions. First she had shown complete vulnerability, and now she was being sensitive and supportive. Very odd indeed. Twilight took the offer and fell back next to the winged mare.

“You,” She began, stopping to inhale one of the biggest breaths she thought she could. What she had to say was very important. “Are the most adorable pony I’ve ever known.” Her face turned beet red as she scrambled to explain. “I mean in a normal sort of friendly way! Like, you’re totally adorable and stuff! Hehe-”

A sky blue hoof covered Twilight’s mouth before she could say any more, and Rainbow closed her eyes, smiling. “Twilight... It’s early... Nopony’s up yet. It’s just us.” Twilight slowly lifted Rainbow’s hoof from her mouth.

“You shouldn’t have come in last night. You should have gone to somepony else. You should have...” She searched for words, but they all disappeared as soon as they sounded right. “I don’t know... You’re just so-”

Again, she’s stopped mid sentence by Rainbow, but this time in a different way. She felt cracked, and yet soft lips press against her cheek. They were un-cared for, dry, and yet inviting. Her heart stopped.

“Consider that a thank you for last night,” Rainbow explained, still keeping her eyes closed and her smile wide. She had her answer. “I know what’s wrong Twilight. And for the record, Rainbow Dash doesn’t make mistakes. I came to the right room last night.”

Still completely stunned, Twilight felt her heart beating faster. “S-seriously? You... You’re-”

“For pete’s sake Twilight, stop over thinking everything!” Dash lifted herself by her elbows, twisted her core to loom over Twilight, and gave her an exasperated look. “I swear, I’m showing you a side that I would never show to anypony else, what do you think is going on?” It was true, she would never show this vulnerability to anypony, and Twilight thought that she was included in that list.

“Why did you come to me last night...” Twilight uttered, staring pleadingly into Dash’s eyes.

Rainbow only sighed and continued to match Twilight’s gaze. “Because I knew you’d be cool with it. I knew you wouldn’t make a big deal of it if you knew it was genuine, and I feel safe with y...” She stopped, letting that final word trail out of existence. “Would this make more sense to you if I wrote it down?” Her tone became frustrated just then, showing more of the normal Rainbow that everypony knew.

Twilight could only find the nerve to nod, the rest of her thoughts focused on memorizing the shine in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Clearly frustrated, Dash lowered herself quickly to press her lips on Twilight’s. Twilight’s eyes widened, but slowly closed to forget everything around them. Almost too quick, Rainbow retracted from the kiss and flopped back on her back.

“I don’t know why I bother...” She got up and began to walk towards the door. “I’ve been looking for this opportunity for so long and you don’t even get it. I’ll just sleep on Fluttershy’s floor tonight.”

“NO!” Twilight yelled, finally gripping reality again. “Don’t go!”

“Twi...” Rainbow responded, now out of words herself.

“I mean... I want you to come back tonight...” Twilight gulped, pushing down the last of her regrets and got out of bed. “I want you to stay the night with me again. Please.”

“Twilight...” Again, the only thing that Rainbow Dash could think was Twilight’s name. It was then that she realized, Twilight did get it, she was just a huge dork about it.

Twilight took another step towards her friend, desperation lining her voice. “I didn’t want to freak you out! Last night you made me feel amazing, like I’ve never felt before. I was scared that it was too fast or... Oh buck it.” Abandoning all reservation, Twilight wrapped a hoof behind Rainbow’s head and pulled her in for a kiss. This one was longer, passionate, and full of feeling. Rainbow could feel Twilight’s tongue caress her lips as they stood there together. Once the moment is ended, the two stared into each others eyes, both lost for words. Finally, a bump on the track brought the two back to their senses.

Rainbow was the first to speak up. “If you tell anypony I’m afraid of the dark, it’s off,” she laughed, but it was still obvious that she meant it. Either way, her cheeks were accented by a pink blush, and looked down at her hooves nervously. Twilight smiled brightly.

“And one more thing.”

“Yes Rainbow?”

“Can you... Can you come to my room tonight?” Rainbow’s voice dropped to a near whisper, almost mimicking Fluttershy.

Twilight understood exactly why, and it only made her find the pegasus more adorable. “Of course Dash, I won’t make you walk through the dark alone again.” She placed a short peck on Rainbow’s lips again and began to walk towards the door. “Now let’s go see who else is up. I don’t know about you, but I could use some breakfast!”

The dining car, which was located just between Applejack and Rarity’s rooms, was vacant save for one half conscious pink pony. Pinkie Pie had fallen asleep at the table, which Twilight assumed meant she had been waiting for the others for quite some time. There were a few thing set out, a couple of plates of pancakes and waffles, some juices and fruits, and it was all untouched. Hearing the two walk in, Pinkie opened her eyes and was at full alertness within seconds.

“Oh boy oh boy you’re awake! I was waiting all night because I was thinking about how scrumptious breakfast would be, and now we can finally eat! And why are you coming in from that side Rainbow Dash?” This caused both of the secret cuddle buddies to freeze. Neither thought about that aspect of it all, especially since Twilight didn’t know where all of them were located on the train.

“She was just returning my blanket!” Twilight spouted, hoping it sounded convincing.

“Why’d she borrow your blanket?”

“I was cold Pinkie, that’s what blankets are for.”

“But why didn’t you come to me? My room is right next to yours!” Again, Twilight froze, trying to piece this together. “Twilight sleeps on the complete opposite end of the train dummy, you didn’t have to go all the way to her!”

This was enough to make Twilight start thinking. “Yeah Rainbow, I’m sure you didn’t have to cross the entire train to get a blanket.” Her eyes narrowed in interrogation. The pupils in Rainbow’s eyes shrunk to the size of bits as her forehead began to sweat.

“I knew Twilight didn’t need hers, and her blankets are really comfy!” Then, as if trying to rewind her tongue, Rainbow smacked a hoof to her head. “I mean, they look really comfy! I wouldn’t know. Er, that is I would now having borrowed them, but I didn’t before!”

“Okie dokie lokie! But next time, feel free to use mine! It smells like frosting!” Pinkie offered, singing those last few words enticingly. The door behind them opened and Applejack walked in. Her eyes were weighed down by tired bags, showing just how much sleep she got.

“Mornin’ y’all, hope you slept better’n I did.” she yawned. The tired famer took a seat at the table next to Pinkie and rested her chin on the table cloth. “I don’t rightly know what was goin’ on last night but I swear I heard somepony walkin’ on top a the train.”

Twlight’s eyes twitched, the corner of her mouth tugging upwards to try and smile. ‘Well that’s great Rainbow, now everypony will know. Opportunity my flank.’

“More like stomping on the train! It sounded like a buffalo was stampeding, and during my beauty sleep! The nerve.” Rarity walked into the dining car and plopped down next to Applejack. She also seemed rather tired.

“Oh, I get it now! That was you wasn’t it Rainbow?” Pinkie beamed, happy to have solved the rather easy mystery. “You didn’t want to wake us up so you went over the train instead of through the train! Silly Dashie!”

“You’re kidding right?” Twilight said flatly, struggling to justify any of this. “I mean, haha, yeah. Silly Dashie.” Her voice was laced with poison as she walked past the blushing pegasus to sit at the table. On her way by, she muttered “My room after breakfast” and went to take a seat.

“Now what in tarnation were you doin’ climbin’ over the train in the middle a the night?” Applejack demanded, a hint of worry in her tone. “Ain’t that a mite dangerous?”

“And at that time of night, for Celestia’s sake!” Rarity added.

“She was borrowing a blanket from Twilight!” Pinkie chimed in, hoping it would make as much sense to the others as it did to her. Rainbow began to drag her hooves towards the table and took a seat next to Twilight.

“Uh-huh, borrowin’ a blanket. Why in Equestria would you risk fallin’ to yer own death just for a blanket that you could get from any a us on the way? Twilight is on the opposite side a the train from you sugar cube.”

Finally, Rainbow broke from her crushing embarrassment and retaliated. “Because if I woke any of you up you’d just yell at me! And besides, I know Twilight doesn’t sleep much so I figured she’d still be up!”

Twilight was surprised that Rainbow came up with a pretty convincing argument.

“I was still up! I totally would have given you my-”

“I’ll keep that in mind Pinkie. Can we just eat?” Dash stuffed a pancake in her mouth to hopefully end the convesation. Then, Fluttershy and Spike came in to complete the group. Fluttershy took her seat next to Rainbow, and Spike weaseled his way next to Rarity. Applejack raised an eyebrow, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

“Why is everypony so tense? Should I leave?” Fluttershy asked, bowing her head so her nose was hidden by the table.

“Just tired darling, don’t think anything of it.” Rarity popped a strawberry into her mouth and chewed delicately. She threw a confused glance at Twilight, who only shrugged and shook her head.

The rest of breakfast continued in this fashion, not a whole lot of talking but a lot of looks. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but especially so for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. After everypony was finished, they all eagerly got up from the table.

“I have to go do some studying, I’ll be in my room if anypony needs me,” Twilight spoke up, breaking the silence. “But by the looks of it you all might want to get some more sleep.”

“Oh yes, I’m still quite exhausted. I will be sleeping, do not wake me up,” Rarity agreed, shooting a death glare at Rainbow Dash. “Again.”

“I won’t! Besides, I gotta wash my...” Where was she even going with that? She had nothing that she needed to, or wanted to, wash. “Boots! I need to wash my boots!”

“Not to be rude or nothin’, but you ain’t wearin’ boots.” Applejack at this point was only humoring the reddening athlete, knowing full well that something was going on.

“Says you! I don’t need anypony telling me what I am, and am not wearing!” Realization hit that that sounded incredibly stupid, and Rainbow took off towards her room. The others followed suit, except for Fluttershy who followed Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash, is something wrong?” she asked in a therapeutic tone. “You seem off.”

“I’m fine Shy...”

“You’re not acting like yourself.”

“I’m acting more like me then ever before! This is me we’re talking about Shy, good old Rainbow Dash!”

“If you say so...” Fluttershy gave up, understanding that she wouldn’t get anything out of her long time friend.

Rainbow reached the door connecting to her car, but instead of walking all the way through she stopped at the hitch. Closing the door behind her, she rose up slowly, making sure not to get hit by something overhead. She was now outside the train, hovering carefully over the top. At a much steadier pace, and much more quietly then last night, Rainbow Dash made her way towards Twilight’s car on the other side of the train. Upon reaching it, she opened the door and stepped in, only to be met by an angry glare.

“What the hay were you thinking?!” Twilight began, clearly furious with Rainbow’s action. “You were waiting for this opportunity? What kind of opportunity is being separated by an entire train full of our gossipy friends?!”

“Look, I was getting impatient. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” Rainbow took a step towards the perturbed genius. “It’s been like... Well it’s been a long time!”

“Then why did you never just come to the library? We could cuddle with a book, I could make us muffins,” Twilight fumed. “I mean come on, you’re a world class flyer! It’s hardly cool for the best young flyer in Equestria to tip toe around her feelings!”

“You don’t get what cool means do you Twilight?” Dash scoffed, somewhat put off. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you! Spilling my heart out over a book is undeniably, undoubtably, uncool.”

“Well neither is climbing over a train!”

“The reason I was coming to see you, and what I was hoping for, were both incredibly lame. I had to do something awesome to counteract it and I figured climbing over a train was pretty sweet.”

“And that brings me to my next point!” Twilight’s face took on a tint of worry, turning her angry stare to one more befitting of a lecture. “You could have gotten hurt!”

“But I didn’t-”

“Just... Just stop...” Twilight covered her face with her hooves, trying to eliminate her newest migraine. Rainbow’s hooves carried her towards the frustrated unicorn against her own will, and sat down next to her.

“Why are you focusing on that?” Rainbow asked, hoping to get Twilight to think of something romantically rather than logically.

“What else would I focus on?”

“Maybe that I faced my fear just to be with you...” she mentioned, her voice cracking slightly. “I thought maybe that would mean something to you...”

Twilight at that moment felt very silly. She wasn’t mad, she was actually far from it. She was happy that Dash had come to see her, and now that she thought about it, she was being pretty selfish about the whole ordeal.

“It does mean something to me Dash,” Twilight assured, placing a hoof on Rainbow’s back. “But just understand... I didn’t know I felt this way until last night. It’s a little overwhelming and the idea of our friends knowing, which I’m pretty sure at least one of them does, is a little stressful right now. I just learned that you, the toughest pegasus in Cloudsdale, is afraid of the dark. I just saw you vulnerable for the first time, and that was weird enough as is. Now I find out that I’m falling in love with you and it’s all just so illogical...”

“Screw logic, be awesome for once!” Rainbow exclaimed, stomping a hoof on the floor. “I can admit that I was being stupid! See? I just admitted that I’m wrong! How’s that for logic? I let you touch my hoof this morning! Logic? Hay no, it just happened!”

“I’m not calling it off Rainbow,” Twilight explained. Her mind was still not made up, but she was going to figure it out one way or another. “You just have to promise me something...”

“Anything!” Rainbow eagerly offered.

“I mean it. Pinkie Promise.” Rainbow crossed her heart, fluttered her wings and placed a hoof over one of her eyes. “Just give me time... I want to spend tonight with you... I want to spend every night holding you, stroking your mane, your soft coat, your everything...” A small tear formed in Twilight’s eye, but her smile betrayed that sentiment. “Hearing our friends come so close to piecing it all together just made me realize that I’ve never been in love before... It’s a little scary. The chaos of it all... Love is truly chaos...”

Rainbow placed a hoof over her heart, showing how serious she was. Though, it was also to try and slow it down before it bursted. She had never been referred to like that before, and it was exhilarating. “I’ll buy us as much time as you need Twilight Sparkle. Speedster’s honor.”

Hearing the foolhardy pegasus act so seriously made Twilight feel leagues better. If it weren’t Rainbow Dash, she might have been worried, but she knew Rainbow wouldn’t let her down. Loyalty was one of the few things she really excelled at.

“By the way, all of the others went back to sleep.” Rainbow continued. “So if you wanted to... You know...”

Twilight bolted up with a terrified face. “Rainbow no! I’m not even close to ready for that!”

“That’s not what I meant Twi! Am I really going to have to say it?”

Both ponies sat together, faces both racing to see which one could blush more. It was obvious that Rainbow was embarrassed by what she was thinking, ‘but it’s not... that?’ Twilight thought.

“I guess I was wondering, you know if it was cool with you or whatever, if we could... Cuddle?” That last word was almost lost under her breathing, but Rainbow managed to say it.

“You... You want to cuddle? I mean, that’s pretty-”

“Uncool, whatever, nopony’s ever held me like that before and I liked it.” Rainbow hovered over to the bed and sat down, folding her arms. Her lips pouted, clearly giving in. “I’m a dork, whatever, are you gonna hold me or not?”

Twilight could only think to giggle, as she plod her way to the bed as well. “Well I could never turn down a once in a lifetime opportunity to hold the one and only Rainbow Dash!” She folded the blanket back to allow for the two secret lovers to cover up, and jumped in. Rainbow let out a surprised yelp as a surprisingly heavy unicorn landed on her.

Twilight wrapped both hooves behind Rainbow’s head and locked her in a kiss. Their lips pressed together and both pairs of eyes closed in unison. They both got a full taste of the other for the first time, letting their tongues dance together. Rainbow produced a satisfied moan while Twilight rubbed a hoof along the base of her wings.

“Hey Twilight! I’ve got some more directions from the-” Spike walked into the room, and froze as soon as he saw what was going on. The two also froze, still locked together. “Ok, well find me when you’re done.” He stood there at the door, almost gawking at the scene.

“Go away Spike.” Twilight scolded, not in the mood to deal with him. She was only in the mood to deal with Rainbow Dash.

“Yep, on it, consider it done.”

“NOW!” A pillow flew at his head as Twilight practically screamed at him. Rainbow dove under the blanket. Soon, they heard the door slam and they look into each others eyes.

“I guess you probably wanna stop huh?” Dash asked, her expression could only be described as heart broken.

“It’s Spike, if he says anything I’ll have him castrated.”

Rainbow felt her chest explode, her heart trying to leap from her chest and cling to Twilight. Hearing her actually be forceful and commanding was attractive beyond belief.

“Now where were we?”

“The part where I die of a heart attack.”

“Really? Are you ok? I read about this before, and I think I can help-”

“Shut up.” Rainbow giggled, feeling more in love than she had ever imagined possible for her, and buried her face in Twilight’s chest. They once again found themselves holding each other, and drifting far off to sleep.