The luxury yacht Crystal Heart had seen worse nights.
Yes, nights even worse than having a few dozen high school seniors on board—laughing, talking, dancing, playing loud music, and doing everything else high schoolers were wont to do given free reign and the lightest of chaperoning. The ship was holding up just fine, however, and by all signs, everyone was having the grandest of times.
Indigo Zap could tell all of these things, because she could see several partying students through the tinted door window of one of the ship's lounge rooms. Fortunately, due to the room's soundproofing, she could barely hear them. In the back of her mind, she hoped they remembered that this was a rented ship. She also knew that they probably didn't care.
Nor did she. With the party muted, the only sounds capturing Indigo's attention came from the big-screen television in front of her, bursting forth with the notes of a song that, she had to admit, was well-written, and even better performed. She recognized her Crystal Prep Academy classmates on-screen, as well as the expensive stage—one of many that the school was proud of having constructed.
But the outfits, and the dance moves...
...those, Indigo was still trying to process. She hoped her awe wasn't too visibly obvious. Between what she'd seen on-screen and what Sour Sweet had told her of Rarity's design prowess, she clearly would have to track down Canterlot High's fashion gal, and re-introduce herself before the two schools parted ways again.
But that was later. Right now she was still in catch-up mode—both by way of the video, and by way of one of CHS's premier students currently reclining beside her in a large, velvet sofa chair.
Indigo could hardly tell which of the two was softer or warmer. This suited her just fine.
She looked at Rainbow Dash with a smile. Rainbow looked back, smiled back, nodded... then gasped and pointed to a part of the video she especially liked, containing herself busting some solo dance moves for a few seconds.
It had been too long since they'd been together like this. Weeks.
Indigo had missed it.
The video finished, and Indigo applauded as the credits rolled. "Wow, that was pretty good. And those outfits are amazing."
"Aren't they though? Did you catch my outfit?" Rainbow said, her voice high and full of energy. "Wasn't it awesome? I totally rocked that stage!"
Indigo chuckled. "Yeah, you totally did. Everyone did." Indigo's heart swelled with pride, tempered by a dash of humility. "Gotta admit, the Shadowbolts would never have been able to pull something like this off by themselves."
Rainbow shrugged. "Goes both ways. The 'Bolts have got crazy dance moves we never would have come up with."
"Yeah, but your band is seriously talented! The girls were right to team up with you, even if I never saw it coming. Either way, thanks for showing me what I missed." Indigo looked low and to the side. "Even though I had to... you know. Miss out," she added in a near-whisper.
Rainbow gave Indigo a shoulder nudge. "Hey, don't be like that. It's not like you didn't have any good reasons to not be around. You were telling me earlier that your college visits went really well, right?"
Indigo perked up. "Yeah, they did! You have no idea how many universities wanna give me full-ride sports scholarships." She looked at Rainbow, and the two of them shared lopsided smiles. "Okay. Maybe you do."
Rainbow chuckled.
Indigo rolled her eyes mock-dramatically. "And I'm grateful for that, really, but..." Indigo shifted her body onto her side to face Rainbow directly, and snuggled her legs further up in the chair. "...it's just really a lot of pressure, you know? Like, seriously, every school I went to—Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale, even Vanhoover—I could tell. They were just all... looking at me. Like... like I was..." Indigo trailed off, trying to find the words.
Rainbow picked up the ball and ran with it. "Less like a girl who wants to get an education, and more like a game-winning robot?"
Indigo burst out laughing, and slapped the chair. "Oh my god, yes! Exactly this! I mean, holy crap, they made sure I saw every inch of their gyms and stadiums, but the second I ask about the labs, or other places I could learn some skills to fall back on if one of my legs ever goes bad, boom! They don't know what to do!" Indigo continued laughing. "It'd be cute if it weren't so stupid!"
Rainbow snickered, and shifted her body to face Indigo. "Twilight told me the same thing kept happening to her—except for her it was because of her smarts. Like, the second she looked into schools, science divisions and mathletes all started getting dollar signs in their eyes. Twi could totally tell."
Indigo thought back to what little she remembered of Twilight when she'd been attending Crystal Prep, and she cringed inwardly. "Ugh. I bet. Principal Cinches everywhere. No wonder she wanted to do the Everton thing."
Rainbow nodded. "And I got a lot of that in my recruitments too. They could barely hold back their drool. So don't worry, it's not just you. This happens to all of us awesome students everywhere! Private colleges are neat, but they're also, like, all competing businesses. Great for them, but for us? It's... weird. And dumb." Rainbow huffed.
"And here I thought all these visits would make for a killer vacation." Indigo sighed, her mind clouding. "But then... what do I do about this?"
"Well..." Rainbow tucked her own legs in, holding them with one arm. "I'll admit I was almost taken for a ride by a couple of colleges that wouldn't have been cool for me. But my parents are wise to that stuff." Rainbow looked up at Indigo with a smile. "If you want to come over to my place, you could talk to me and them, then talk to your parents about your final decision."
Indigo's face lit up. "Seriously? You'd do that?"
Rainbow shrugged. "Uh, duh. Friendship?"
"I know, I just... that'd be really great!" Indigo clenched her fists and squealed. "I mean, my parents love me, and I love them, but they're not really all that savvy about this kind of stuff, and they were even more lost than I was—" Indigo cut short her babbling, and looked away again. "I hate to say it, but I'm kind of going it alone here."
Rainbow placed her hand on Indigo's shoulder. Indigo turned to look back at Rainbow, with wide eyes and deep breaths.
"Never," Rainbow said, her voice confident and reassuring. "Not with me around."
A familiar warm joy washed over Indigo as she relished Rainbow's words. Her cheeks tinted. She almost succeeded in holding back a sniffle.
"Back at you," she said serenely.
Rainbow's smile widened, and Indigo saw her cheeks pink for a split second before she quickly turned to look back at the TV.
"I... totally missed you when the other Shadowbolts were making this video with us. I wanted to dance on stage with ya. We'd've had so much fun. But I also knew we had to go forward with things as they were, for a better cause. And so did everyone else. 'Cause we all wanted something awesome for you to come back to. Not just the video, but also this party, and these comfy digs." Rainbow gestured around the room. "Aren't they great?" she said with a laugh.
Indigo laughed as well, her body relaxing. "They seriously are. I could lay in this chair forever."
She saw Rainbow relax as well. "Yeah, I like that idea. I'm all partied out."
"Mmm-hmm."
Clicking buttons on a nearby remote, Rainbow channel-surfed for half a minute before settling on a children's cartoon about magic-imbued girls fighting evil from another dimension. She lowered the volume, making sure it was audible, but not distracting.
Indigo watched, entranced, appreciating the fast action and colors. As the program played, Rainbow reached over, grabbed some candies from the bowl next to her, and offered some to Indigo. Indigo happily accepted—and as she munched on their chocolate goodness, she felt Rainbow wrap her arm around her from behind.
Indigo snuggled even closer, leaning into Rainbow's warm embrace. It felt nice.
Rainbow's touches always did.
Sometime around the episode's climax, as a pink-skirted girl was charging up to shoot a massive heart-shaped laser beam at a monster, Rainbow spoke up.
"You know, if there's one thing I've learned over the last month, it's that... well, I might've actually been wrong about Crystal Prep. And I'm glad I was."
Indigo nodded. The laser beam struck the monster, dissolving it into a shower of sparkles. "You know, we... both might've been. CPA always does whatever it can to get the win, no matter who we go up against, and I'm no different."
Indigo glanced at Rainbow, then stared through the television and into space.
"Well... usually, I'm not."
With the cartoon over, she restarted the music video. "But from everything I've heard that happened while this video was being made, and the girls telling me they're done pushing all the 'rivalry' stuff..."
Indigo studied the video, enjoying the way both sets of students from both schools moved in complete sync. Lyrics about Canterlot High and Crystal Prep teaming together reached her ears, heightening her appreciation.
She closed her eyes and sighed, a small smile crossing her lips.
"...maybe there's hope. For my whole school," Indigo finished. "We can still excel. We can still be the best. But we don't have to obsess about it. We can use all that energy to just... better ourselves instead. Like, as people. And sometimes, with the help of others." She blinked, and looked at Rainbow pensively. "Does that make any sense?"
"Sure does." Rainbow nodded, and leaned her body against Indigo's a little more. "Honestly, though? I think that hope was always there. It just took a reason for the two of us to not compete, for once. I don't know if you've noticed, but the world isn't great at handing us those. Especially when Cinch was charge of you guys."
Indigo giggled and snorted. "Yeah, no kidding! Though if we're talking motives, I guess I dodged a couple bullets."
Rainbow blinked. "What do you mean?"
Indigo fidgeted, twiddling her thumbs. "It's something I've wanted to change, but... well, let's just say my talents lie elsewhere. As in, everywhere but a dance floor." A familiar competitive expression flashed across Indigo's face for mere moments. "Trust me, I'd've totally won for our school if it were just a fashion show."
Rainbow tilted her head, her own competitive look flashing. "Really? With Rarity on our side? Think real hard about what you're saying there, sister."
Indigo looked back at the video. "...okay, maybe it would have been close. But my point is, the second you say 'dance video'? I'm out of my league. CPA students aren't supposed to admit they have limits, but you know what? Screw it."
Rainbow shrugged. "Eh. You're in better shape than you think. I'm no dancer either."
Indigo's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. Unable to form words, she settled for pointing at the video.
Rainbow laughed. "Seriously! Look, I can shred, I can shake my stuff, I can lead a cheer, I can do school band marches. But... well, let's just say that if I weren't me, I probably would be super-embarrassed at our school dances. Usually I try to not to even go."
Indigo nodded in agreement.
"But your friends really have moves! And they helped us to fix ours. I might've taken the longest to get a handle on, though. That's why you see the other girls doing the big dance solos. Don't get me wrong, I'm awesome in this, like I am in everything. But put me on a field, or a rock stage? And that's where I'm perfect."
Multiple weights lifted off of Indigo's shoulders at once. "That's seriously how I am too."
Rainbow winked. "That just means you're in the best company."
Indigo laughed, then watched the video again until it finished, and the credits rolled once more. "Thanks, Rainbow."
"For helping with the video? Sure, no big."
"No, I mean for tonight." Indigo placed her hand on Rainbow's cheek. "And... for just being you, this whole time."
Rainbow held Indigo's arm with one hand. She smiled, not bothering to hide her deep blush this time around. Indigo heard Rainbow's breaths deepen, and relished being able to have this kind of effect on her—usually Rainbow was unflappable around others.
She placed her hand on Rainbow's thigh, and felt Rainbow's breath audibly catch. Rainbow's hand joined Indigo's, clasping—and the familiar warm joyful feeling quickly turned into a sweltering heat.
Finally, Rainbow re-gathered some of her composure. "No worries," she said, her voice slow and soft. "That's the best part of this whole thing, really. That we can just spend time here being awesome together, in the coolest place. I'm glad the others finally realized what we did months ago..."
Rainbow crept her hand forward, up Indigo's body, and played with the collar of Indigo's blouse—and Indigo found herself falling for the girl in front of her all over again.
"Y-yeah," Indigo said, moving her face towards Rainbow's. "Fighting never solves anything..."
Rainbow drew close as well, and as both girls closed their eyes, she finished Indigo's sentence with a single whispered word:
"...ever."
Their lips and tongues met, and played to their heart's content.
