Moral support
“Wonderbolt flying competition? Come see Equestria’s finest flyers go head to head with Fillydelphia’s Speed Angels tomorrow from twelve to five pm” Vinyl read the poster aloud, her eyes darting between the Mare’s excited face and the annoying calligraphy of the font that made it a little hard to read out.
“Isn’t this awesome! My first flying competition as a Wonderbolt, and against the Fillydelphia speed angels no less!” Dash squealed, akin to a little mare who got a Christmas present she always wanted. Vinyl, on the other hand, hadn’t the faintest idea who these Speed Angels were even supposed to be.
“I thought the Wonderbolts were the only flying team we had” Vinyl replied from behind her shades, feeling a lot like a fish out of water when it came to stuff regarding Rainbow’s occupation.
“They were… Until a decade ago when other cities decided to make their own academy. None of them were actually up to size until now, but these new guys have set some impressive speed records, so they were allowed to form their own little team. But that’s not the best part, Spitfire said she wants me in it. This is so awesome!” Dash exclaimed a little too loud, making the pale-furred DJ cringe and rub an ear.
“… Sounds like it babe, I’m happy for you” Vinyl said as she stretched out and looked back at her work desk where pieces of paper lay littered with half written music notes cross them. She was right in the middle of working on her next remix when Dash busted her door down and shoved the paper in her face.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious they’d choose me with how awesome I am. I already talked to a couple friends to get you set up with front row seats. Free of charge of course” Dash said as she placed a hoof on her chest proudly as she hovered a few inches above the ground, frankly Vinyl was a little-worriedshe’dbrake something with how restless she seemed to be.
“Oh, you did? Dash, I’m not sure if I can even make it. My schedules pretty packed tomorrow” Vinyl said, instantly feeling a pang of guilt at the flash of disappointment in her eye. Why did it have to be the puppy dog stare?
“What? You can’t be that busy, and I’d fly better having my girlfriend there to cheer me on” Dash said.
“Rainbow, this is really short notice. You know just how busy I get. Couldn’t you have told me like a month ago?” Vinyl inquired, sounding like she was criticising Dash despite her effort to sound calm.
“I know, I should have remembered but I didn’t. In other news the sky is blue” Dash responded sarcastically. Vinyl just rolled her eyes and used her magic to reorganize the desk into a more organized state. She then turned back to Dash who had doubled down on her puppy dog stare her lips curving into a pout for added effect.
“Dash…” Vinyl said with a tired look, never in her life did she ever think she’d be the level-headed one in any relationship. She must have been losing her edge.
“This means a lot to me, Vinyl. It’ll be my first tournament”. This was getting annoying, of course Dash would pull something like this even if it was an accident… Still, much as she felt the urge to call Rainbow out for expecting her to just drop whatever she was doing at a moment’s notice the urge to be supportive was a little stronger.
“Gimme a second” the DJ said as she levitated a Quill and paper with her horn and scribbled down some stuff on the enchanted paper.
“I get it, your too busy to go. Just tell me instead of making an esc-“ Dash said when she was cut off by a hoof flicking her forehead.
“I’m just asking to reschedule my party tomorrow actually. I love you babe, but you really need to stop jumping to conclusions” she said as she trotted past Dash and into her living room. Opening the fridge, she pulled out a bottle of milk that she promptly guzzled down half of its contents. She had been so busy trying to find the right rhythm for a new track that she’d neglected eating anything today, so the mild sugar rush it would give was just what she needed.
What she wasn’t expecting was a pair of hooves to wrap around in a spine-crushing hug, her body hoisted a few feet into the air as Dash muttered phrases she could only make out as ‘thanks’ and ‘awesome’. She was a bit too dazed to really tell.
“You’re the best babe, I knew I could count on you” Dash exclaimed happily
“Can’t breathe.”She said in a strained voice as she was lowered onto the kitchen floor by the blue Pegasus who was now grinning from ear to ear.It was a little cute honestly, the childish excitement in Dash's eyes, even if she was a bit irked from having to cancel tomorrow’s gig. Clients, especially inthe bigger nightclubs tended to boycott entertainers who were unreliable and it wouldn’t be surprising if she couldn’t get work there for a while. But she’d live.
“Oh, sorry. Got overexcited I guess” the Rainbow mare said as she rubbed her head sheepishly as she hovered over to the door. “I need to go back to the academy for more training but I’ll see you tomorrow morning”. Vinyl pouted at those words as she walked on over to Dash.
“Leaving already? I thought you’d have time to hang out for a bit”. Dash only offered an apologetic smile in response.
“I’d love to Vinyl, but Spitfire wants us all in tip-top shape for the race tomorrow. So I’ll be there all day.”
“I get it, but you’ll be back tonight right?” She inquired not quite ready to give up yet, but judging by Dashes fidgeting and half smile it was pointless.
“Yeah about that. Spitfire wants us to be there at six am tomorrow, so I’ll have to sleep at home in Cloudsdale” she said prompting Vinyl to sigh in resignation. She hadn’t gotten to spend much downtime with her marefriend in the last two weeks, so she was a bit let down. Shame, with how busy they both tended to be Vinyl fancied a good night cuddle right about now.
“Figures, I’ll see you tomorrow”.
“Yeah, totally. Just don’t work yourself too hard Vinyl” Dash said as she kissed Vinyl’s forehead before opening the door and dashing out fast enough to shake the whole kitchen and blow her hair back, making a few strands of her already dishevelled hair to fall in her face.
One would think she was late for practice with how fast she made that getaway, but when it came to Rainbow Dash, her doing that on a whim seemed just as likely. Ruffling her hair back into place she closed the door and made to head back into her office when she spotted something lying on the floor by her desk. Upon closer inspections she identified it as her little picture frame.
She knew for a fact she hadn’t dropped that and quickly trotted over and levitated it up to inspect the damage. Much to her own horror the glass had cracked hideously over the picture containing two Ponies posing over an empty auditorium backdrop, one of whom was Vinyl who stood with her signature shades and cocky grin. To her right was grey mare with neatly combed dark hair and a bow tie on her neck. She also had a smile on her face though hers was much more restrained as she rapped a single hoof around Vinyl’s neck… Or at least that was what the photo was supposed to look like.
The grey mare’s face was almost completely obscured by the crack with just the lower half visible while Vinyl’s half looked perfectly normal, it left her with a tornado of mixed feelings. A smouldering anger only matched by the hurt and depression she felt in her gut. She wanted to break something and scream so badly right now… But she wouldn’t, she’d already come this far, and she couldn’t let herself wallow in depression again.
“Dash didn’t mean it, it’s just an accident” she muttered aloud as if to reassure herself. But even saying that she still felt bad as memories of what had once been flooded her memories. Shaking her head aggressively she carefully detached the frame and pulled the photo out, it was scratched up quite a bit but thankfully the image was mostly intact. She’d head into town later today to see if she could get a new frame. But for now, she’d try to focus on her music, anything to get that Mare’s face out of her mind.
“It really has been over two years, huh Octavia…” she whispered as she placed the photo in her drawer and raised the quill and paper again.