Rainbow Dash opened yet another dust-laden box, launching millions of tiny particles into the air. An errant breath sent them sailing towards her nose, and after a moment of silence as she realized her horrible mistake, the pegasus sneezed—and sneezed again, and again, and again, quick little squeaky things in rapid succession. When it was finally over, Rainbow stared cross-eyed at the cloud of dust settling in front of her and rubbed her sore chest.
She heard giggling behind her. Frowning, Rainbow spun around to face the mare in question. Rarity stood at the back of the attic, a hoof pressed over her muzzle as she made a half-hearted attempt to stifle her giggles. Grinning, the unicorn maneuvered her way around the cluttered attic and sat down next to Rainbow, pecking her on the cheek. “I might have to tickle your nose with a feather duster sometime. You’re simply adorable when you sneeze like that.”
Rainbow’s cheeks flustered, and she hunched over the box. “Wrong a-word,” she muttered as she dug her hooves under the flaps of the box and opened them. Numerous knickknacks, old photos, and other dusty and mildew-covered trinkets filled the cardboard container and, sighing, Rainbow shoved the box Rarity’s way. “I don’t know why you’re having me help clean out the attic. I don’t know what crap you want to keep and what you want to throw away.”
Rarity rolled her eyes and pulled another box off the shelf while sliding the one in front of her back to Rainbow. “Please, darling, it’s not too hard. I trust your judgment.” Prying the lid off of the new box, she scanned through the contents before taking them out and making two piles. “Just divide them into what you want to keep and what to give away.”
Shrugging, Rainbow began to pull things out of the box. She hadn’t even taken three items out before Rarity piped up. “Actually I think I’ll keep that,” she said, her magic taking an old vase out of Rainbow’s hooves. “And those too,” she said when Rainbow next emerged with a stack of old books. Biting her lip, she ultimately took the box away from Rainbow. “Maybe I should go through this one.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Some trust,” she said, shooting a glance at the unicorn.
Rarity blushed and stammered. “I… well… eh heh heh…” Grimacing, she found a box labeled ‘Pictures’ and passed that to Rainbow. “Go through these and find any you think we should put up. I shan’t even look over your shoulder while you do it.”
A suspicious pause. “Really?” Rainbow deadpanned, raising an eyebrow for emphasis.
“Really.” Rarity fidgeted, then added, “Well, maybe a little. Just a quick peek.”
“Sheesh, you’re like my dad,” Rainbow said, digging through the box and pulling pictures out. “He was always watching over my shoulder whenever I was doing stuff.”
“Your father’s a good stallion,” Rarity said, tossing the things she wanted to save back into the box and setting the rest aside. “Somepony had to keep you and your mother under control.”
Rainbow smirked. “Yeah, we were certainly a hoofful for him. Mom never slowed down, and I was… well…”
Rarity giggled. “It’s very obvious whom you take after.”
“Heh. Dad gave me the colors and Mom gave me the personality. I’d call it a win-win.”
Rarity hummed her agreement, and the two worked in silence for some time. They sat back to back, tails entwined, the colorful spectrum of Rainbow’s safely wrapped in the violet sheath of Rarity’s. The only noises either made were a few quick but hastily stifled sneezes from Rainbow as she brushed aside dust, or the trilling hum of Rarity’s horn briefly lighting to bring something over from across the room. Together, the two worked through their respective boxes, although when compared with the plethora they still had to go through, it seemed like nothing.
Blowing dust off of an old picture, Rainbow held it up to her eye. “Hey, check this one out, Rares,” she said, holding the picture over her head so Rarity could see it. A blue glow manifested around the frame, and Rainbow turned around as Rarity’s magic took it from her hooves. The ivory unicorn looked at it for a moment before recognition washed over her features.
“Oh! I was wondering just the other day what happened to this picture!” she exclaimed, giving the frame a quick shake to knock the rest of the dust off of it. “How ever did it end up here?”
“It probably got mixed up during last year’s spring cleaning,” Rainbow teased, poking Rarity’s nose. “I told you you were going overboard on that ‘minimalist’ style fad thing.”
Rarity slapped Rainbow’s shoulder. “It was not a fad. It was artistic expression. I was trying to hunt down my muse for a big commission in Fillydelphia; that mare didn’t like the usual frills and embellishments I put on dresses for ponies of her station, so I was trying to find inspiration for something more in line with her fancy.” Rainbow continued to stare at her, one eyebrow raised, and Rarity harrumphed and looked back at the picture. “I mean, sure, it only lasted a month…”
Clearing her throat, Rarity angled the picture so they both could see it. It showed the two of them, standing on a stage, forelegs wrapped around each other while they embraced for a kiss. Rarity’s magic held two microphones off to the side, and the silhouettes of several ponies littered the foreground. The glare off of colored lights somewhere in the ceiling of the building cast the couple in a ghostly, almost angelic glow, like their moment was something otherworldly, too pure for reality. Smiling, Rarity rested her head against Rainbow’s shoulders and let the pegasus hold the picture. “Do you remember? That magic moment?”
Rainbow grinned and buried her muzzle in Rarity’s mane, just above her horn. “I remember, alright,” she murmured, inhaling the scent of expensive perfume. Iris, lavender, and a hint of verbena. Rarity’s favorite perfume, and by extension, Rainbow’s as well. “I remember.”
The karaoke place in Ponyville was always busy. Rainbow couldn’t remember a time when it wasn’t. Ponies loved to sing so much that a building dedicated to it was almost a necessity in every town across Equestria to satiate that thirst when spontaneous musical numbers weren’t forthcoming. From midafternoon until late in the evening, the unassuming building was full of ponies, drinks, lights, and most important of all, music.
To the ponies of Ponyville, it was just ‘the karaoke place’. It didn’t have a name, and it definitely wasn’t advertised. The owner, a stallion by the name of Hot Record, claimed that he didn’t need any advertising to attract business. If ponies wanted to sing, all they’d have to do is follow the music.
And there was always plenty of music. Starting at three in the afternoon, the stage was open for ponies to sing their favorite songs, either solo, with a partner, or in groups. Drinks and food were provided at a fair price, and every three hours there would be an hour break for ponies to relax, listen to music, and dance everything from club freestyle to the simple square dance. It was an atmosphere like no other, and ponies would probably have become lost in the music unless Hot Record forced them out at night, sometimes as late as dawn of the next morning.
One such late night found Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the rest of their friends inside those walls. They’d all wandered over together after a nice dinner at Twilight’s castle, where they caught up on all that’d happened since they last were together. With Rainbow on tour with the Wonderbolts for much of the year and Rarity busy with managing her fashion empire across Equestria, it was getting harder and harder for the six to get together as the years went on. So whenever they both happened to be in Ponyville, even if it was just for a few days, they capitalized on it as best as they could.
Well, at least by some of their standards.
Karaoke night had been Pinkie Pie’s idea, to nopony’s surprise. Rainbow Dash didn’t like karaoke all that much, but she wasn’t going to argue with Pinkie over it. For one thing, arguing with Pinkie was almost always a fruitless endeavor, and for another, she didn’t want to start bickering on one of the few days she had left to spend with the girls before meeting back up with the Wonderbolts for their Whinnyapolis show. So while they sang on stage, Rainbow was content to sit back at the table with Fluttershy, drink her fill of hard cider, and watch them.
It’d been an hour since the last break ended, with Hot Record’s daughter working the turntables and providing the music for ponies to dance to. Rainbow had enjoyed that. She considered herself a dancing mare, more likely to cut up the floor than force her scratchy voice to sing. She was still sweating from the last high energy club song the white unicorn had played, and which she had somehow forced Rarity to join in. Rainbow couldn’t help but chuckle and sigh as she remembered her marefriend panting and trying her damnedest to keep up with Rainbow on the floor. She knew that vengeance was going to come later that night, where the unicorn would refuse to crawl into bed until she was clean and had all the sweat washed away, preferably by the source of the problem.
But Rainbow wasn’t going to complain about that particular arrangement.
Still, at least with Fluttershy, who was far too nervous and self-conscientious to go up on stage, Rainbow could sit back, drink, and watch her friends make fools of themselves. Twilight’s singing was focused, happy… and normal. It was the standard Rainbow judged the rest of her friends by. Pinkie was Pinkie, and her enthusiasm threatened to drag the rest of the establishment into impromptu song more than once. Rainbow had to try very hard to hold back her laughter when Applejack assaulted the stage and the audience by trying to wrestle her country twang against some of her friend Coloratura’s pop songs, both before and after her break from her ‘Countess’ persona. And Rarity…
Well, Rarity…
Rainbow simply didn’t have enough words to describe how the beautiful unicorn sung. Stunning. Astounding. Sophisticated. Refined. Rarity mostly stuck to popular love songs, where she could belt out her strong and full alto, smooth and clear like glass. When she sang, she would always look at Rainbow, and the pegasus could hardly keep down the chills. It was like Rarity was singing to her and only her in a room full of ponies.
Then they would share their drinks, Rarity a martini, Dash her cider. They would laugh and cuddle as they watched their friends or some of the other ponies in the building go up to sing. They would share stories, stories they both already knew from their many intimate nights full of pillow talk, but were news to the rest of their friends. For Rainbow, she was reminded again how much she missed being by Rarity’s side when her Wonderbolt career took her to the other coast of Equestria and she couldn’t stop by to visit on weekends. Those nights were the loneliest, when she didn’t have a warm body to sleep next to after an exhausting day at rehearsal. And sometimes Rarity’s career would take her to Prance, or Bitaly, or some other foreign nation, and Rainbow wouldn’t see her for a month, sometimes more. They’d both, at various points, reluctantly entertained the idea of breaking things off for convenience’s sake, but whenever one did, the other would adamantly refuse. “We’re in this together, darling,” Rarity would say as she sat down next to Rainbow and brushed away her tears with a tender, loving hoof. “What’s a little time apart now if we have the rest of our lives to spend together?”
And she was right. They’d been dating for a few years now, and neither were in a rush to move their relationship further along. For the time being, they were content to focus on their demanding careers and take solace in the company the other provided, the only other pony in their friends group who truly understood the pressure that being in the public eye placed on them both. That mutual understanding had drawn the two together when their careers were just taking off, and as the years went by, only tied them closer and closer to each other.
As the night went on, so too did the drinks. Rainbow Dash was no stranger to heavy drinking—drinking competitions and games were a staple of Wonderbolt team building, and she’d learned to pull her weight with the hard hitters like Spitfire and (of all mares) Surprise. Rarity took the opposite approach, making a single martini glass somehow last, and discretely ordering drinks when she needed a refill so it was impossible to guess exactly how much she had to drink. Twilight and Fluttershy paced themselves, keeping a close eye on how much they’d been drinking, while Pinkie Pie and Applejack cut loose, the latter mostly out of an attempt to keep up with Rainbow. Applejack and her earth pony constitution took it well, and she was soon back on the stage singing. Pinkie Pie on the other hoof…
“Come onnnnnn, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie whined, flattening her ears and all but draping herself across the table. She hiccupped and rubbed her muzzle, beginning to pout. “Don’t be a party pooper!”
But Rainbow Dash was adamant. Crossing her forelegs, she leaned back in her chair and shook her head. “Nuh uh. I am not singing some stupid karaoke song.”
“But Dashieeeeeeeee, everypony else has gone!”
“Fluttershy hasn’t,” Rainbow said, pointedly glancing at Fluttershy, who blushed and tapped her hooves together, trying her best to look small.
“That’s because she's Fluttershy,” Twilight said, giving the butter yellow pegasus a comforting smile. “We wouldn’t make her do something like that.”
Applejack cantered back to the group, humming the last few notes of her song to herself. Sliding her chair back, she plopped down and signaled for another cider, then grinned and turned to her friends. “Well, what’d y’all think? Not bad, eh?”
Rarity giggled and patted Applejack on the shoulder. “If anything, I’d say that you have the voice for country, although that surprises none of us.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie chipped in. “Now all you have to do is sing about your tractor and how your daddy hates your coltfriend!”
Everybody giggled except for Applejack, who merely looked confused. “Pinkie we don’t even have a tractor,” she said, leaning back for the server to drop her cider in front of her. Scooping the mug up in one hoof, she downed a quick gulp and sighed. “Big Mac says that he don’t need no dumb machine to do his job for him.”
The music changed, and the six ponies briefly paused their conversation to watch a couple on the stage begin to sing their song, a passionate duet about love and loss. It was enough to make Fluttershy coo and fluff her wings. “Aww, that’s so adorable!”
Rainbow looked at the pair slowly dancing and singing with hooves on each other’s shoulders and rolled her eyes. “You would think that.”
“She’s right, though,” Rarity said, sliding her chair closer to Rainbow’s and brushing shoulders with the pegasus. “They do look cute together.”
“Meh.”
Pinkie Pie gasped and began to bounce, although because she was sitting down, the chair came with her, and because she was more than a little inebriated, she was listing dangerously. “You two should do one!” she exclaimed as Twilight stabilized her with her magic. “Do one do one do one!”
Rainbow grimaced and held out a hoof. “Pinkie, for the last time, I don’t want to—!” She froze, the words suddenly dying in her throat, for a soft warmth had pressed firmly up against her side, carrying with it the smell of expensive perfume, somehow still pungent over the musk of the karaoke place. Gulping, and with a heat already beginning to flush her cheeks, Rainbow looked to her right, even though she dreaded what she was going to see.
Of course, it was just as she expected. Rarity leaned against her side and stared up at her with pouting lips and wide sapphire eyes. Deep, sparkling eyes, full like the oceans and pure like a lake, trapping her in their luster and drowning her in their gaze. It was a move Rarity had perfected, and Rainbow fell for it every time.
Groaning, Rainbow rubbed the bridge of her nose with her primaries and sighed. “I hate it when you do that.”
“I don’t see why,” Rarity teased, poking Rainbow’s muzzle and making the other mares at the table quietly giggle. “Besides, it would be fun. Of course, if you don’t want to…”
“Dang it, Rares...” Rainbow grumbled, shaking her head. Sighing, she forced a small smile onto her lips and nuzzled the base of Rarity’s horn, right where she liked it. “Fine, but only because you asked.”
Rarity smirked and pecked Rainbow’s cheek. “I don’t recall asking anything, darling.”
“You did it with your eyes.”
“Well… maybe,” Rarity said, shrugging. "But I'm sure they did it of their own accord." Her magic brought the last of her martini to her lips, and she finished it off in a few sips. Rainbow matched her with her own cider, and when the couple on stage finished their song, the two clapped and stood up as they made their way back to their seats.
“Go get ‘em, girls!” Pinkie exclaimed, shooting a hoof out for Rainbow to bump as they passed.
“I know Rarity will,” Applejack drawled, and she regarded Rainbow for a moment with a teasing glint before adding, “Don’t know about Rainbow, though.”
Rainbow socked Applejack’s shoulder. “You’re gonna wish you could sing half as good as me.”
“Puh-lease. Ponies like a full, rich country voice more than that scratchy one you got.”
“Really? Because I thought it was supposed to be ‘old time rock and roll’, not ‘ol’ timer rockin' row’.”
Applejack chuckled and shook her head, conceding and letting Rainbow catch up to Rarity, who was already halfway to the stage. “Should I pick or do you want to?” Rarity asked as soon as they were side by side and brushing shoulders, deftly maneuvering around the tables between them and the stage.
“I’ll take care of it,” Rainbow said, glancing at the little kiosk next to the stage where ponies put in the songs they wanted to sing. “Celestia knows you’d put on some opera or something.”
“Does a place like this even have those?”
“I don’t wanna know.” Spreading her wings, the pegasus flew up to the kiosk while Rarity took the stairs and began to walk to the microphone. Frowning, she began to page through the album, trying to find a good duet. She briefly entertained getting some hard rock just to mess with Rarity, but something else caught her eye.
Pursing her lips, Rainbow flipped the page back and looked at the printed title. It was a song her father used to sing all the time when she was little, and even now, she could still hear him humming it while he worked. She didn’t even know it had a duet version, and she glanced over her shoulder to where Rarity was waiting by the microphone. Smiling, the pegasus entered the selection on the kiosk and fluttered back to where Rarity was waiting, dropping to her hooves by the fashionista’s side.
“What’d you pick?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow smirked. “It’s a secret.”
The unicorn huffed, and Rainbow couldn’t help but giggle a little. If there was one thing Rarity hated (besides poor fashion), it was being kept out of the loop. Rainbow considered it a side effect of sharing too much gossip. So while Rarity glanced back and forth between Rainbow Dash and the kiosk at the back, biting her lip all the while, Rainbow simply took a deep breath and waited until the first chords began to play.
The lights on the audience dimmed slightly, and Rainbow snatched her microphone in her feathers and began to pace across the stage, the music beginning to move her almost involuntarily. She didn’t even need to look at the words displayed on the screens by her hooves; she’d heard the song so many times growing up that she knew the lyrics by heart. Coming to a stop several tail lengths from Rarity, Rainbow looked to her right long enough to see a spark of recognition and a glimmer of surprise beneath a raised eyebrow aimed in her direction. Still, Rarity’s white muzzle bore a pleased smile, and that was all the encouragement Rainbow needed as she began to sing.
“I saw your light, there in your window.
You knew I'd come here; I made sure you'd know.
You left it on, hoping I'd show.
Well after midnight, you prayed I would go .”
Rainbow looked at Rarity, her marefriend for more than three years now, and was taken back to when they first started dating. Simply looking at the mare sent her heart fluttering and made her legs feel like jelly. Her ivory coat and sapphire eyes practically sparkled under the lights, but above all that was the grin Rarity was giving her. White like the moon and glistening like diamonds, it was all for Rainbow, and she could barely keep her wings from fluttering at her sides as she began to walk back to the center of the stage.
“Why did you worry? You knew I would, girl.
So open the door now, come let me in.
You knew I'd come, and here I am now.
You knew I'd be here
So please let me in.”
The music lingered for a moment, giving the audience a pause to breathe and let it all sink in. Smirking, Rarity tossed her head back, took her microphone off of its stand, and began to walk away from Rainbow, mirroring the pegasus’ early movements. Rainbow found herself standing alone at the center of the stage, mesmerized, as Rarity glanced down at the screens and began to belt out her part of the duet.
“All of my life, I’ve been so lonely
Night after night, waiting for you.
I heard your knock, I heard it on my door.
I feel my heart racing, racing for you.”
Rainbow followed her across the stage, and met the unicorn as she turned around and began to walk back to her. Pressing their bodies together, they sang only to each other, the world outside of that stage momentarily forgotten as they looked deep into each other’s eyes, trading off their lines before joining in harmony.
“So there it is, girl, I'm here for you, now.”
“And here I am, babe, I'm here for you.”
“You knew I'd come, and here I am now.
You knew I'd be here
Let's go inside.”
They separated and began to walk in opposite directions across the stage, the electricity of their heartfelt moment together still tingling along Rainbow’s feathers. She glanced for a moment out to the audience, where she caught sight of her friends. They all were smiling, though it was more of a smirk in Applejack’s case, and Pinkie Pie looked like she was trying to hold back tears. Still, she didn’t let herself be distracted for too long. Holding the microphone to her muzzle, she stopped and pivoted back toward Rarity, who was waiting for her at the other side of the stage.
“I know last time things didn't end well.
We both said some things that we regret.”
Immediately on cue, Rarity tossed her mane back and held a hoof to her heart as she sang back, with Rainbow joining in and walking back across the stage.
“Why think of that, babe?”
“That's in the past, now.
That's in the past, now.”
They found themselves face to face in the middle of the stage as a quiet hush fell over the karaoke place. The piano played a few more chords before Rainbow sang, and Rarity answered.
“You knew I'd come.”
“And here you are now.”
“Please let me in.”
“Don't stand outside.”
“I missed your smile.”
“I missed your kisses.”
“We’ve got this night, babe.
Let's make it last.
We’ve got this night, babe.
Why not make more?”
Rarity held out her hoof, and Rainbow gently took it in her own. Pressing their bodies together, they looked into each other’s eyes as the last of the music died away. At that moment, there was no place else Rainbow would have rather been, and she knew in her heart that Rarity felt the same way. The fears, the worries, the unknowns of their lives ahead all melted away in that moment. They both knew who they were going to spend the rest of their lives with, and that pony was on the stage with them. Now, more than ever, any doubts had been washed away in the bliss of one magical, shining moment.
As the music finally came to a close and the ponies in the building began to clap and applaud, the couple closed their eyes and leaned in for a tender kiss on stage.
“I never knew you could sing like that,” Rarity said, resting her head against Dash’s chest as they set the picture aside. She closed her eyes and breathed, smelling ozone and rain. The smell of Rainbow’s coat. Humming, she made herself comfortable and wrapped a hoof across Rainbow’s waist. “I don’t think I’d ever loved you as much as I did at that moment.”
“Heh… same,” Rainbow said, kissing Rarity between the ears. She made a contented sigh and picked the picture up one last time to get a look at it. “That was what… four years ago?”
“Mmmm… about.” Rarity cracked an eye open to get another look at the picture. “Seems like it was just yesterday.”
Rainbow snickered and rubbed Rarity’s back. “Yeah. Funny how that works.”
Silence for a second, until, grunting, Rarity sat up. The two ponies sat side by side against the wall of the attic with the picture between them. “It was your father’s favorite song?”
“One of them,” Rainbow said, shrugging.
“He certainly has good taste.”
Smiling, Rainbow laughed and shook her head. “You remember the look on his face when we used it for our first dance. Poor guy couldn’t stop crying and blowing his nose on his sleeve. Nearly ruined his tux, too.”
“Now that would have been a travesty.” Holding the picture in her magic, Rarity tilted it left and right. “Where do you think we should put it? By the lamp?”
“Pshh. The lamp? Nopony’s going to see it by the lamp. Put it on the mantle.”
“But that’s where we have our wedding photos.”
“So? We can make room.”
“Hmmm… I suppose.” Stretching her limbs, Rarity stood up and shook her mane. “Ugh…” she muttered, grimacing as she looked at the cobwebs that’d gotten tangled in her hair. “And I’d just styled my mane, too…”
Her magic plucked the cobwebs out and she quickly brushed it back into position with a hoof. From her spot at the wall, Rainbow chuckled. “The Rarity I knew seven years ago would’ve screamed her head off if she found a cobweb in her mane.”
“Yes, well, this Rarity has had seven years of getting covered in muck and grime from going on adventures with you,” Rarity retorted, shaking her head. “Call it conditioning.” Sighing, she smiled and looked back to the ladder. “It’s getting late, and I’m sure I’m not the only one of the two of us who’s hungry. Shall I get started on dinner?”
“Please,” Rainbow moaned, holding her gut. “We’ve been at this for hours. I need some food or I’m straight up gonna die in this attic.”
“Oh, alright. I suppose I should get started,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “Besides, once we eat dinner, I have to go back to my studio. I’ve got a big commission coming up, and I have to get it done perfectly.”
“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll just finish up a few things here,” Rainbow said, crawling away from the wall and surveying the boxes surrounding her. As Rarity made her way to the ladder, Rainbow paused and turned to face her. “Hey, Rares?”
Rarity stopped and turned around. “Yes, darling?”
Rainbow fidgeted for a moment. “I saw your light,” she said, making Rarity raise an eyebrow. “You knew I'd come here; I made sure you'd know.”
A little smile lit up Rarity’s muzzle, and Rainbow walked toward her. “We've got this night, babe... why not make more?” Smirking, she added, “I’ll even help you get your commission finished tomorrow.”
Rarity stepped away from the ladder and stood face to face with Rainbow. Reaching a hoof out, she brushed the smaller pegasus’ cheek. “Who needs tomorrow, darling?”
Rainbow didn’t answer her, at least not with words. Grinning and closing her eyes, she leaned forward into Rarity’s kiss, surrendering herself to the unicorn’s embrace. When they broke the kiss, they pressed their foreheads together and looked into each other’s eyes.
“Let's make it last.”
Author's Note
Inspired by the duet of "We've Got Tonight" (obviously) and the cover image drawn by Ruirik. Had to rewrite the lyrics to appease copyright rules, but what can you do?
