To Find a Rainbow

The second I got home from my shift at the Carousel Boutique I started cleaning up my cottage. It wasn’t really messy, per se, but with company coming over, I wanted it to look nice. I resolutely didn’t think about the fact that I never bothered when Rainbow came over before, especially since she gave even less of a shit about it than I did. And that’s saying something, because I’m pretty far from a neat-freak. Rather, I quite enjoy some organized chaos in my life. If everything’s too orderly, I feel like I’m at work or school or something, not at home.

Despite that, by the time I sat down on my couch, my living room was practically spotless. Almost like a hurricane had come through and decided to tidy up the place instead of wrecking it.

And not a moment too soon, as there was a knock at my door. Checking the clock on the wall, it was indeed shortly after four, which meant my visitor could be only one pony. I bolted over to the door, but just before I threw it open, I paused. I didn’t want to seem over-eager or anything. After taking a couple quick breaths, I finally opened the door.

Before me stood Rainbow, minus her exercise outfit this time but with two pizza boxes balanced precariously on her back, supported by her slightly extended wings. Next to her was an orange pegasus filly I didn’t really recognize. She had a short purple mane that was mostly unruly but had a cute cowlick in the front. She had the jittery look of someone who was excited about something but was still nervous about it, too. Despite that, she looked up at me with a sort of youthful innocence in her smile.

When Rainbow had told me that Scootaloo was a filly, I’d imagined grade school age, but this filly didn’t strike me as much younger than Rainbow was. Scootaloo stood only a few inches shorter than her big sister, though she was more on the lanky side and lacked Rainbow’s athletic body, giving her the look of someone who’d just grown several inches recently and hadn’t filled out to match yet. Beyond that, I couldn’t exactly judge how old she was.

“Hey, Will,” Rainbow said, nodding her head since she couldn’t wave a wing like she normally would. She then gestured toward Scootaloo. “Will, this is the Squirt. Squirt, this is Will. Don’t mind him if he says something lame, he’s not as cool as he thinks he is.”

I harrumphed. “You know what, Rainbow? Some guest you are! I invite you into my house to watch Daring Do, and you insult me to my face before you even walk in the door!”

She shrugged. “First of all, you didn’t invite me over; Movie Night was my idea. Second, I brought food; that at least gives me right to come in. Third, I brought pizza. That’s worth double.”

Without waiting for a response, she slipped past my legs and went inside. I was left awkwardly at the door with Scootaloo, who seemed less willing to come in uninvited. I gave her a put-upon sigh and waved her in, to which she complied and followed after Rainbow.

“Nice to meet you, Scootaloo. Come on in,” I said as she passed. As Rainbow darted into the kitchen, likely to raid my fridge for something to drink, Scootaloo stood by the couch, taking the room in. It wasn’t exactly the most extravagant living room ever, but everything was likely bigger than she was used to. “Feel free to make yourself at home. Any friend of Rainbow’s is a friend of mine.”

She had barely nodded before Rainbow came bouncing back in, one of two six-packs of hard apple cider I’d bought on the way home from work clutched between her teeth and a bottle of soda balanced on her head. She dropped the cider on the table and, with a nod of her head, propelled the soda into the air and caught it with her hooves. With a grin, she offered it to Scootaloo, who took it and placed it on the table as well.

“Well, what’re we waiting for?! Time’s wastin’, let’s get this party started!” Rainbow cheered, leaping onto the edge of the couch and throwing the top pizza box open. The tantalizing smell of melted cheese and grease filled the room almost instantly and my stomach growled.

Somehow, Rainbow was able to grab a slice directly with her hoof. I’ll never understand how ponies can pick up things without any visible means of holding them, but as most things in Equestria can be summed up: it’s magic, son. Regardless, she began gorging herself without even waiting for Scootaloo or I to sit down. Laughing, Scootaloo climbed up beside her, struggling a little with the height, and once she was settled grabbed some pizza for herself. Realizing I was the only one without greasy limbs, I guessed it was up to me to start the movie.

“Sapphire Stone is the first one, right?” I asked, looking through the stack of movie cases in front of my TV. I was amazed to find that Equestria had movies, though the discs were made out of thin pieces of crystal rather than plastic.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Hurry up!” Rainbow said.

Rolling my eyes, I popped it out and put it in the player. Soon enough, the opening credits began rolling. I stepped back around the table, grabbing a slice of pizza for myself before I crashed down on the couch with the others. We were sitting with me against one arm, Scootaloo sitting surprisingly prim against the other, and Rainbow sprawled out across the space between.

Before us, the opening scenes began to play. Our hero, Daring Do, a tannish-yellow pegasus with a black and grey striped mane, stood before what looked to be a college classroom. She was giving a lecture about some tribe of ponies living deep in the rainforests of Zebrica, showing off a series of artefacts including small statues and even some cobbled-together weapons and shields they used. The class seemed enraptured with everything she said, but as the bell signaling the end of the period rang, Daring Do gave a weary sigh and rubbed at the space between her eyes.

“I almost forgot she used to be a professor,” Rainbow said through a mouthful of pizza. After swallowing she continued, her eyes never leaving the screen. “She hated it so much. I’m glad she quit at the end.”

“Thanks for spoiling,” I said, clipping her ear. “But I hear that. She doesn’t seem to care for it. Working a job you can’t stand sucks.”

“Yeah?” Scootaloo suddenly asked. “What do you do?”

“Mostly I work with Carrot Top on her farm. Don’t get me wrong, Carrot Top’s great; she has a good sense of humor and she’s fun to work with. But working on a farm is so not me.”

Scootaloo laughed, a loud throaty chuckle. “Yeah, right? My friend Apple Bloom roped me into helping out bucking trees over at Sweet Apple Acres once. Once. Never again.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the way she said it. “I tried helping out at Sweet Apple Acres once, too. I nearly broke my foot on the first tree! But oh no, it would’ve been ‘how we do things ‘round these parts’ if I’d picked them instead. Such sticklers for tradition, them Apples.”

“Will you two quit yammering?” Rainbow cut in, glaring between us angrily. “You’re missing the whole movie!”

As Rainbow turned her attention back to the movie, Scootaloo and I shared chagrined smiles over her head. Rainbow was right, though; I’d missed a few minutes of the movie and from there spent a little bit trying to catch back up to what was going on. At least after that point, Scootaloo seemed to have lost what remained of her nerves. As the movie went on, she reclined onto the couch more comfortably and began laughing more openly and loudly, as well. It was good to see she wasn’t nervous. I’d have hated for her to not have fun the one night she gets to hang out with Rainbow.

I found out as we watched that Scootaloo had never read the books either, so Rainbow filled us both in on little facts that we would have otherwise missed out on. Though Scootaloo had seen the movies before, so she was able to quote several memorable lines as they were being said, something she and Rainbow both found infinitely amusing. Even I found it funny, if only because her attempt at the antagonist’s Germane accent was laughably bad.

Soon enough, the first movie’s ending credits were already rolling and Rainbow was groaning about how the ending was so much better in the book. Something about how Daring Do would never have kissed her handsome stallion assistant because she totally isn’t into him and whatever. I barely paid her any attention as I got up to put in the next one.

“Aw man, my bottle’s empty,” Rainbow said, and a clatter sounded behind me, likely her apparently empty bottle dropping onto my coffee table. We must have been all out of our six-pack because next thing I knew she was slipping past me into the kitchen. Moments later as I was sitting back down, she returned with another six-pack, the only other one I had and had been hoping to save for next week. Oh well, I could always pick up more later, and I had to admit I was still pretty thirsty, too.

She swept the first cider box, now empty, off to the floor to make room for the other, and once she’d sat it down, she turned to me.

“Hey, do you have any more soda around here? There weren’t any more in the fridge,” she said.

“Everything I had was in the fridge, so I’m out. Sorry, but I don’t drink a lot of it, so I don’t keep it around much,” I said. Beside me, Scootaloo waved a forehoof.

“Don’t worry about it. I can just drink water,” she said. Then it was my turn to wave her off.

“Nah, don’t do that. Just have a cider; it’s cool.”

“Woah, I don’t think so,” Rainbow said, giving me a serious death glare. Like I’d told Scootaloo to jump off a cliff or something. “She’s way too young to drink!”

“I’ll be eighteen in three more months, Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo said, a hint of tired resignation in her tone and face. It sounded like they’d had this conversation before.

“Exactly my point, Squirt. You’re not eighteen, so you’re way too young!”

“Oh come on, Rainbow,” I said, trying to ease her rising temper, “let her have just one. It won’t hurt her!”

“Yeah, but her dad might hurt me when he finds out! I’m supposed to be responsible and stuff, and you’re supposed to be on my side,” she said, poking me hard in the chest.

“My dad will be in bed by the time I get home,” Scootaloo cut in, shrugging her shoulders. “He usually expects me to crash at your place, Rainbow, so he doesn’t wait up for me. Unless you tell him, he’ll never know.”

“See?” I asked. I motioned for a fistbump to Scootaloo, and she grinned as her hoof met my knuckles. “Everything will be fine! You’re worrying over nothing. When did you become such a stickler for rules, anyway?”

Rainbow actually flinched at that one, turning to look at Scootaloo like she was searching for a sign that said, ‘Hey, look at me! I’m mature enough to handle one cider!’ After a moment, she gave out a long sigh.

“Fine, you can have one. But only one until we see how it’ll affect you. I’m not taking you home drunk,” she said, pointing a hoof at Scootaloo with a stare that left no room for negotiation. I thought that was the end of it until she fixed that same look on me. “And you owe me after this, you got me?”

Feeling just the slightest bit intimidated despite her miniscule size, I wisely decided to remain silent and simply nod. When in doubt when dealing with women, human or otherwise, I’ve found that just nodding and agreeing is for the best. It’s saved me many headaches, let me tell you.

“Wait…” Scootaloo said, her brow furrowed as she glanced between Rainbow and myself. “Why does he owe you? What does he owe you?”

“Uh… Don’t you worry about that, Squirt,” Rainbow said.

She reached over and grabbed one of the few remaining cider bottles and passed it off to Scootaloo who hesitated, eyeing it for only a moment before screwing the cap off and lifting it to her lips. She paused once again, but this time to tentatively sniff it and, deciding it was safe, took a large swig.

Everything seemed fine for all of five seconds, at which point she screwed her eyes shut and sputtered, spitting nearly half her mouthful back out and all over my couch. She managed to swallow before a coughing fit overtook her. Rainbow thumped her on the back until she managed to recover.

“Wow, that was way stronger than I expected!” Scootaloo said, her voice still hoarse. Getting daring, she took another large mouthful and forced it down without making a mess this time. I reached across Rainbow to clap her on the back.

“So how ya feelin’, Scootaloo? How’s the first taste of adulthood?” I asked.

She took a moment to consider the bottle in her hoof, swirling it around a few times before answering.

“Just like overripe apples,” she said, sticking her tongue out.

“That one is so awesome!” Rainbow said as the credits of Griffon’s Goblet began rolling. She had her hooves on either side of her muzzle while her hindlegs kicked gleefully in the air. Since at some point during the movie she’d taken up residence across my lap, I leaned my head back a little as her hard hooves came a little too close for comfort to my nose. “Don’t you just love how she swoops in, grabbing the goblet right out of Ahuizotl’s mitts AND saves Grizelda at the same time?! Isn’t it just the most awesome thing ever?”

“Yeah, it was pretty great, Rainbow,” I said, scratching her belly like I’d been doing for the last half-hour. I didn’t think Daring’s rescue was quite the most awesome thing ever, after all, it was nothing like Luke rescuing his friends from Jabba, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. Not only would she have no idea what I was talking about, but she’d disagree on principle anyway.

“What’d you think, Squirt?” she asked, looking over her stomach toward where Scootaloo was now laying half-draped on top of the armrest of my couch. One of her wings stuck up against the back of the couch while the other was wrapped around her almost like a blanket. All four of her legs were pulled up beneath her, like she was trying to curl up into a pegasus ball. It was actually pretty cute.

Rainbow groaned. “Guess that’s it for Daring Do tonight.”

“I was about ready for a break, anyway. I’ll give it to you: you sure called it. Daring Do is pretty awesome. But even I have to draw the line at six hours back to back.”

“Pansy,” she said before sticking her tongue out at me. A grin flashed across her face as though she were daring me to deny it. Rather than indulge her, I stuck out my tongue right back.

She laughed, loud enough I was sure for a moment she’d wake Scootaloo, before she sprawled back out across my lap. Her wings spread wide; well, one of them did as the other was pinned against my stomach. Her forelegs stretched up above her while her hindlegs went the other way, leaving her back arched and her perfectly-toned stomach curved upward. As she gave a yawn so tremendous it left her shivering, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her midriff, or more specifically, the two dark-blue nubs of her nipples just a ways below her navel.

On humans, I had never considered myself terribly attracted to breasts. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re great, but they were never something I particularly focused on. But ever since coming to Equestria, where boobs as I knew them simply don’t exist, I’ve come to find that I miss them much more than I ever would have thought.

Ponies have nipples, of course, but to be honest? They’re much more akin to what an Earth horse’s probably looks like, low on the underside and almost completely flat against the body. No delicious curves to ogle or fondle around these parts.

Not that I’ve ever seen a horse’s underside. I’ve never seen a real life horse at all, actually. You know, just pictures or in movies or whatever.

“See something you like?”

Rainbow’s voice cut through my thoughts, making me realize that for the last several moments I’d been staring at her body. However much I wanted to be cool, to my shame I could feel my cheeks heating up in what I knew must be a horrible blush. Despite that, I managed to grin.

“How’s this? Any better?” she asked, and before I could say a word, she brought her hindlegs up towards her head in a manner that would have required a great deal of flexibility for a human woman. She grabbed her hindhooves with her fronts and spread her legs wide, leaving her flushed marehood on clear display.

She was already somewhat aroused, the barest trace of wetness sparkling in the dim light still coming from the television, though she wasn’t yet doing that winking thing ponies do. I guessed it only happened when they were more than a little turned on.

She held the pose just long enough for the sight to sink in before she relaxed again, falling back into the nominally carefree state from a moment ago though she still had me fixed with that damned arrogant grin.

“Are all humans this easy to rile up? How do you make it through the day if even looking at a mare gets you ready to go?” Rainbow asked, her voice slurred somewhat. She wasn’t quite drunk, but like I had, she’d probably had a little more cider than she might usually partake in. I couldn’t help pulling a face at her.

“Well humans don’t usually let their junk hang in the breeze. We wear clothes all the time, remember?”

Rainbow snorted, blearily rubbing a hoof across her eyes. “Humans are just… uh, whassa word? Twilight would know it. Where, like, you don’t do as much as you should? Constrained? No-no, restrained? Re-somethin’. Regressed?”

She fell apart into a string of barely coherent mumbles before eventually petering out and falling silent. Hearing her try to discuss semantics is funny even when she’s sober, especially since Rainbow isn’t exactly known for her extensive vocabulary, but tipsy it’s downright hilarious.

Or maybe I just find it extra funny since I’m not completely sober either.

With great effort, I managed to hold in my laughter and the silence continued between us unbroken. The only sound in the room beyond Scootaloo’s barely audible snores was the static of the TV, our movie long since ended and forgotten, neither of us finding the motivation to get up and turn it off.

My hand found its way back to her stomach almost of its own accord. Just as much as she loved me scratching her body, I liked the feel of her soft coat against my fingertips, so I’m always willing to oblige. Even when she doesn’t ask first.

A few times while I wasn’t paying attention to where my hand was wandering, my fingertips brushed the pert skin of her nipples. Despite what happened between us last night, and her insistence she wanted to do such things again, a brief flash of panic coursed through me. If she even cared that I had touched her, she gave no indication. She gave no reaction at all.

Or at least, no reaction to my hands. With her body laid so bare before me and memories of what we’d done last night so fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but find myself starting to become aroused. A fact that didn’t escape her either, if the way she began squirming around, rolling her back into my lap in an effort either to amuse herself or fluster me.

Or both.

“Geez, I was just joking, but you really are ready to go,” she said.

“Yeah, like you’re much better,” I replied.

Before she could respond, I decided to brave a risky move. No doubt the cider helped with that decision. But I slipped my hand between her legs and ran my middle finger along her soaked slit. She shivered at the touch, and no surprise why. She was every bit as wet as she looked earlier, and even the barest graze left a slick of juice on my skin.

She tried to clamp her legs shut, whether to shield herself from me or to lock my hand against her I don’t know, but I was long gone by then. I held my finger in front of her face, showing her exactly how big a hypocrite she is.

“Watch where those hands are goin’, buster,” she growled, though the scowl she wore was undermined by a smile she couldn’t quite force into a frown. I began walking my fingers down her stomach, but she batted my hand away before I reached her belly button.

“No, I mean it,” she said, looking more serious now. “Not tonight. Scoots’s right over there for pony’s sake!”

She paused long enough to point over at Scootaloo, as though I’d somehow forgotten the filly was with us. Then she sighed and flopped back so far she could probably see the floor.

“Speaking of, we should prob’ly get going. Iss’late, and I need to get her home,” she said, struggling to right herself and stand up. She managed to sit upright on my lap, her forehooves digging painfully into my thigh at one point, before I placed my hand on her back to hold her up.

“Oh, why don’t you two just stay the night? She already said her dad wasn’t expecting her back, and I have plenty of room here. There’s no reason to wake her up,” I said.

She gave me a coy grin. “Heheh, you just wanna get me back to your bedroom, don’t you?”

I felt my face beginning to blush, but that didn’t stop my confident nod or shit-eating grin. “Yes.”

For her part, Rainbow let out a loud bark of a laugh before she remembered she was supposed to be quiet and clapped a hoof over her mouth. We both looked over to Scootaloo, whose ear flicked, but she gave no further sign of waking up. Rainbow let out a brief relieved sigh.

“Ugh, I wanna stay, too. But aren’t I supposed to be responsible? I’m supposed to make sure she… she walks the line and follows all the rules. I’m supposed to make sure she gets home on time and doesn’t get in trouble, right? Izzn’t that what a big sister does?” she asked.

Now, I’d like to impress that I’m no stranger to being around people in various states of drunkenness. I know a lot of drunks can have the attention span of an ADD housefly and can change topics and moods faster than they can blink.

But Rainbow wasn’t quite far gone enough I would have expected sheer randomness to spew out of her mouth, and so the dramatic shift between her earlier joviality and her current somberness left me momentarily speechless. As I struggled to get my brain in gear, Rainbow simply stared at Scootaloo’s sleeping form, her eyes locked on the filly but her gaze a thousand miles away.

“Well…” I started slowly, not completely sure what I was going to say. “I think you’re already being a responsible big sister.” She turned and looked at me blankly, so I continued. “One day, whether with us or her friends or even on her own, she was going to try alcohol. And when she did, she may not have had someone there looking out for her like she did tonight.

“You made sure she didn’t have more than she could handle, and also that she didn’t go and do something she’d regret tomorrow. Except maybe a hangover. But she only had a couple, so she’ll be fine.”

I took a breath, searching for something more to say.

“And I don’t think not taking her home makes you a bad sister, either. Like I said, what’s more important is that you’re making sure she’s safe. And she’ll be safe here. She’s not gonna go home with some stranger who’ll do God-knows-what to her, she’s not going to go do something stupid and get herself in trouble. And I’m sure that’s all her Dad really cares about.”

She seemed to mull that over. “Well, I guess when you put it like that…”

“See, you’re already a good big sister! I wish I’d had someone like you when I was her age.”

“Oh, fine, fine!” she said, batting at me like she was trying to shoo away a fly. “You’ve convinced me. We’ll stay the night.” To show her displeasure at being convinced to change her mind, though, she stuck her tongue out at me again.

“Well, you know where the bed is. You go on ahead; I’m gonna grab a blanket for Scootaloo first.

“Aw, aren’t you so sweet!” she cooed, her voice saturated with sappiness. She gave me a peck on the cheek to punctuate her point before awkwardly stumbling off my lap and to the floor. I made to catch her, thinking she was about to fall, but she knocked my hands away with her wings. She began to canter away, but stopped just as she reached the hallway leading towards my bedroom. She looked back at me, her eyes half-lidded in a sultry gaze.

“Don’t make me wait too long, though,” she said, then with a pointed flick of her tail, she trotted away and was gone.

It took me only a moment to process her meaning before I bolted upright and to the hallway closet. Grabbing the first blanket I saw, I haphazardly tossed it over the sleeping filly before hightailing it back to my room.

I’m not sure what I was expecting Rainbow to have accomplished in the few seconds we were apart. Maybe I fantasized about lit candles, or rose petals strewn about or something, maybe even just her doing a sexy pose on my bed, however ridiculous any of that might be. Okay, except the posing; she might do that. But whatever I’d thought, I didn’t expect to see her in the middle of my bed, sprawled out on her stomach and propped up by both of my pillows, reading a book before her that took me a moment to recognize.

Her ear had flicked toward me when I opened the door, but she didn’t take her eyes away from the pages as she spoke. “I didn’t know you kept a photo album. I mean, I remember you taking some of these, but I didn’t know you were keeping them all together like this. Did you make this?”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose while she wasn’t looking. I had hidden that book in the drawer of my nightstand specifically so that no one would find it, but leave it to Rainbow to go snooping where her nose doesn’t belong.

“Y-yeah, I did,” I said, walking over and taking a seat beside her. Looking over her shoulder, I looked at one of the earlier pages, bearing a picture of myself and Spike, Princess Twilight’s assistant/some kind of family that I can’t really define, sitting around reading comic books together and debating their merits. Princess Twilight had taken the picture while neither of us were paying attention, and in it Spike had his arms wide in a sweeping gesture as he said that all superheroes were lame compared to the Power Ponies, while I was sarcastically joking back that he wouldn’t be saying that if he’d ever heard of Batman.

It’s funny, looking back, how easily I can remember that afternoon. It wasn’t terribly special; Spike and I had had many such afternoons in the few weeks I lived in his and Princess Twilight’s castle. And yet I vividly recall how he listened with rapt attention as described the Justice League and the Avengers, as well as his confusion as to why the two groups couldn’t work together.

It was a great day, just hanging out with Spike. He’d been the first person I’d met after following Princess Twilight to Ponyville, and having another guy around certainly made getting out to socialize a little less intimidating. I don’t think the two of us were ever as close as I was with Rainbow, but considering where that was going, perhaps it was for the best. Spike’s a great little drake, but I’m just not into him that way.

“My dad use’ta keep a scrapbook when I was little. I can’t remember why he stopped…” she trailed off. Her tone was distant, like she was talking more to her memories than me. Absently, she turned the page and came upon what was probably one of my favorite pictures. She laughed as her face lit up in recognition.

“I remember this day!” she said. “You’d moved to Ponyville, what…? A week or two before? You came out to watch my flight practice!”

“I came out for the picnic with all the girls. You just decided to turn it into an airshow,” I deadpanned.

“Pffft, then you got for free what most ponies would pay for!”

I ignored her boasting as I looked at the picture in question. All of Princess Twilight’s friends were huddled together on a picnic blanket on a sunny hillside in the Ponyville community park. I was on one side next to Rainbow, who I had met for the first time that day. Almost immediately, I had loved her carefree nature and the boundless energy with which she applied to her passion: flying. All of Princess Twilight’s friends had been great, and I even began working for Rarity shortly afterward, but no doubt Rainbow was the only one besides Spike that I’d really consider a friend.

So lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t notice at first Rainbow moving until I felt her nuzzling my neck. She was sitting upright at my side, though as she pushed herself closer, she rested a forehoof on my lap to hold herself up. I buried my nose in the top of her head, breathing in the faint smell of rain and ozone, hiding behind the crisper veil of cider. A blast of hot, humid breath flashed across my throat as she bit down, her blunt teeth digging into my skin painlessly. She dragged her lips across my cheek as she lifted her mouth to my ear.

“Speaking of things ponies would pay for…” she whispered. Then she began nibbling on my earlobe with a seductive growl.

The quick shift in her mood made me imagine the alcohol must be working its way through her system, a fact further supported by how quickly she gave up at my ear and backed away, laughing. She began circling around the middle of my bed in the way a cat might while searching for the perfect spot to sleep, stumbling only once until she found her spot. She crashed down in a heap so hard she bounced, laughing all the while.

After she settled, she was still for only a moment before squirming onto her stomach. Then she started pawing at the covers, looking like a dog digging a hole, until she managed to pull them down far enough she could wriggle underneath, becoming nothing more than a moving lump under the blankets. I briefly considered tickling her before her head popped back out and she finally fell still.

“Well, aren’t you coming to bed?” she purred, tossing me a wink.

I didn’t need any further incentive to throw off my shirt and pants. I flicked the switch on my lamp, letting the room fade to pitch blackness before I made to climb under the covers, settling myself in beside her. Her back was warm and her feathers tickled my bare stomach. I draped my arm over her and pulled her close, and she returned the gesture by hugging my arm to her chest. As we cuddled close on the pillow, the smell of her mane filled my nose again. It was a far cry from stale sweat.

Which I have to admit, I kinda-sorta miss.

“You smell nice,” I whispered in her ear.

“Yeah, well… you smell like cider. Dork,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

“No, that’s your breath you’re smelling.”

She chuckled, quietly enough I felt the vibrations through her chest more so than heard it. “Maybe…” she muttered. After a moment’s silence, she grunted and with a gargantuan effort, picked herself up and turned around so that she was facing me. Her mane tickled my neck as she nuzzled into my shoulder, forgoing the pillow completely. Under the covers, a single wing draped itself across my chest, just as my arm wrapped around her back.

Together, we lay there utterly still and completely at peace. Her breath, slowing as sleep began to approach, played gently across my skin as I delicately brushed the fur between her wings.

“Will?” Rainbow whispered. I hmmed to let her know I was listening. “Do you really think I’m a good big sister?”

The question surprised me, and I lifted my head slightly to look at her. She was staring intently at the wall, her rose eyes dull in the encompassing darkness around us.

“Yeah, I really do. You’re an amazing person, Rainbow, and Scootaloo seems to love you. You’re an awesome big sister.”

Even in the dark, I could see her eyes light up just the tiniest bit as she broke into a small smile. “Thanks, Will.”

She closed her eyes and snuggled into my chest, her entire body relaxed and loose against mine. I thought that was the end of it and made to try to fall asleep myself, but her voice broke the quiet again, mumbling and barely coherent.

“Don’t ever leave me, Will…”

My breath caught. I wanted to believe that it was the alcohol talking, making her sentimental and embellishing her emotions to the point she wasn’t sure what she was saying. But there was something in her tone, some weight that spoke of some greater meaning that I couldn’t begin to comprehend. Had she lost someone in the past? I was reminded in an instant how little I knew about her.

“I won’t, Rainbow. I promise. I’ll always be here for you,” I said. I brushed my fingers through her mane, feeling its pristine softness regardless of the knots and tangles that came from the lack of regular brushing. Despite the gesture, she didn’t move or speak further. She was already fast asleep.

In spite of the heavy feeling in my chest, I put her words out of my mind. I was sure that, come the morning, everything would be fine again. A single thing, said through the haze of emotion and drink, was hardly worth worrying myself over.

After a time, Rainbow’s gentle snoring lulled me to sleep.