“I love you, Rainbow Dash” said the blue alicorn softly, and in response felt a soft nuzzle against her side.
The regal alicorn was laid on the large round bed in her private chambers, forelegs tucked tidily underneath her, with her wing extended to cover the cyan blue pegasus laying beside her in an affectionate embrace. She wore a contented smile, lost in the closeness of their intimacy with her protégé, whose multicoloured tail twitched lazily behind her. Rainbow snuggled close, comforted by the warmth of the blue alicorn’s body, as her chest gently rose and fell. She felt herself cocooned in her partner’s loving embrace, eyes closed in happiness and gently booped the alicorn’s side with her muzzle. She was happier in this moment than she had ever been.
It hadn’t always been like this.
Luna still remembered everything she had done as Nightmare Moon and continued to torment herself with vivid memories of her actions. As an immortal, she knew she would carry this guilt with her until the end of time, but contented herself to share a fleeting moment of companionship with one pony she had admired ever since her release from the moon.
She had taken lovers before, but had never held the same feelings for any as she did for Ponyville’s weather pegasus. Without question she was beautiful; admired by stallions and mares alike for her stunningly multihued colouring, but the allure went further than mere appearances; she had a spark, a passionate core to her soul that radiated her magnetic attraction.
For her part, Rainbow was mostly oblivious to the clumsy advances of her many admirers, not out of any malice, but moreover because such behaviours were so commonplace she had not known anything different. In Luna, she had found something that attracted her; it wasn’t the power or the position, but the way in which she had turned herself round to become a loyal and trusted friend, and loyalty meant a lot to Rainbow. Also when the mood took, they would prank each other, each content to play the foil for the other’s sometimes robust sense of humour. In short, they were an ideal match, and by quirk of fate, the two had found each other.
Luna had first noticed Rainbow when she had been Nightmare Moon. She had been the one pony amongst the crowd of revellers at the Summer Sun Celebration who was prepared to stand up to the evil black alicorn even though she had seen her swat aside three pegasi from the Royal Guard ordered to restrain her. She had also intervened to save Princess Twilight from falling off a cliff and then shown herself to be incorruptible in the face of temptation. There was no doubt that the downfall of Nightmare Moon, and indeed Luna’s subsequent release would not have happened were it not for this brave young mare. For this alone, she would always be grateful.
Then there was young Scootaloo, the starstruck orange pegasus filly whom Rainbow had saved from falling over a waterfall and subsequently agreed to mentor, just like a big sister. Strength and kindness melded together in one fabulously beautiful and talented individual. For sure, Rainbow had an outer shield of bravado, but when they were alone together that guard was dropped. They were both outstanding personalities and each respected the other equally; neither seeking advantage over the other, unless of course it was to do with practical jokes; but there was a time and a place for that, and they both knew when it was and was not acceptable.
Rainbow wriggled gently forward and leaned across to give the blue alicorn a gentle kiss, then pulled slowly away to take in her beautiful teal eyes. Luna returned the loving glance, losing herself for one glorious moment; there was no sight more fulfilling than looking into the eyes of somepony who truly loved you.
“You know Luna” said the cyan mare dreamily; “I’m gonna have to leave these comforts behind when I join the Wonderbolts Academy tomorrow.”
“Yes Rainbow, I know” replied the alicorn “But when you see the moon rise you will know that I am thinking of you, and when you look up at the stars, you will know that I have painted the night sky just for you.”
“I sure am lucky” she said with a smile. Then after a pause, her ears pricked up and she turned to face Luna adding with a bit more of her characteristic gusto “I’m so going to ace it, you know; maybe they’ll let me do a sonic rainboom - then you’ll know I’m thinking of you too!”
Luna smiled. “You must be disciplined; do not compromise your future for a romantic gesture. I will visit you in your dreams, if you wish?”
They kissed again; there was no need to form an answer using words.
Even in their closest moments of intimacy Luna felt a twinge of sadness, although she would never let on. She was immortal, which carried with it a ticking time bomb for all her relationships. She would watch this vibrant mare flourish, then age and finally she would be alone once again. All in the twinkling of an eye. It had happened so many times before and the story would repeat as sure as night followed day; but this was different. She knew she would remember Rainbow as the long journey of her immortality finally came to an end; she would be the last name on her lips and her final thought, long after her other partners had been forgotten. This would be her undying mortal legacy.
Unaware of her lover’s innermost thoughts, Rainbow rolled onto her back, closed her eyes and surrendered to the Princess of the Night.
Never had Rainbow Dash woken on a morning feeling such extreme emotions; the day had arrived to start at the Wonderbolts Academy, but it would mean leaving the love of her life. The two opposing passions raged within her as she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or break down in tears. Luna was more sanguine; she wanted Rainbow to succeed in achieving her life’s ambitions and would never get in the way. Nonetheless, her heart was in her mouth, but centuries of self-discipline enabled her to detach her rising feelings from her elegant exterior so that even her own sister could not read her; but she could guess.
The morning had dawned sunny and windless, so the table had been set outside. As usual, Celestia seated herself for breakfast and Luna for supper. Usually this was an informal opportunity for the Princess of the Night to brief her sister about happenings in Equestria overnight so she could prepare for the day ahead. As these were affairs of State, nopony was allowed near, the serving staff taking their cues from a well established routine to know when to approach.
Celestia knew of her younger sister’s affair and indulged her, partly from her own guilt about her role in banishing Nightmare Moon, but also because she too had a genuine liking for the cyan mare. Mostly however, it was because she could see the pleasure that this relationship had brought her sister. Accordingly, she knew that Rainbow had stayed over last night and that Luna would have had little or no chance of getting any work done, so there was nothing formal to hand over. Therefore for once, tradition was broken and the two Royal Sisters were accompanied at breakfast by a cyan mare. After exchanging pleasantries and staying for no more than her morning coffee, Celestia tactfully retired to leave the two lovers alone enjoying the short time together before Rainbow had to leave.
They sat close together holding hooves and from a distant window Celestia looked back at the pair of them and felt a lump rise in her throat; the young pegasus having clearly contributed more than anypony else to help her sister transition to the modern world. There was no doubt in her mind that the two were meant to be, for however long they had.
Time ran inexorably like the sea rising up a beach and all too soon it was time to part. Luna regarded Rainbow with deep affection and could see that the young pegasus had puffy eyes. She extended a hoof and her young lover glanced quickly to either side to see if anypony was looking before running to her Princess and burying her muzzle into her neck, reaching out to hold her tight. Luna wrapped her foreleg around and fought back the emotion welling up inside her, staying calm for the sake of her love.
Rainbow pulled back, gave Luna one last gentle peck on the lips before turning to take off in the morning light, leaving her a last souvenir of a damp matted patch on her neck fur. Luna stood for a moment, waving her lover away as her silhouette shrank and vanished from sight. A subdued clip clop of hooves moved alongside her and gave a gentle nuzzle. The white alicorn said nothing; she didn’t need to. A solitary tear rolled down Luna’s muzzle as she just stood motionless with her sister sharing her pain beside her.
Rainbow arrived at the Wonderbolts Academy with her characteristic bravado intact, self-confidence up to eleven, because she had been selected for training and believed she was Wonderbolt material straight from the off. Trouble was, everypony else felt the same about their own abilities, and their no-nonsense Captain soon took them to task.
Rainbow quickly paired up with a highly competitive aquamarine pegasus mare named Lightning Dust; both easily outperforming the other trainees. The next day they were going to be put in pairs and it was clear to Rainbow that she was going to be Lead Pony; this was going to be awesome! When Luna visited her dreams that night, they shared some quality time together and when the Dream Walker finally departed, she left her lover in a buoyant mood.
The next day, Rainbow started full of her usual swagger to read the pairings list and was taken aback to find herself wingpony to her new friend, not Lead Pony as she felt she deserved. Wingpony? She had performed the sonic rainboom for Pete’s sake, why in Equestria shouldn’t she be Lead Pony? She went to Spitfire to query what was clearly an administrative error, but the Captain’s words stung her to the core.
“Lightning Dust likes to push herself a little harder than you do. That's why I made her Lead Pony. Got it?”
That was the first kicking she received that day.
Things did not improve as the training progressed to the next exercise; the flag hunt. The trainees set off in their pairs and started surveilling the landscape for signs of the opposing team’s flags. Rainbow saw the first of the fluttering red trophies, but Lightning took over, basking in her role as Lead Pony and diving steep and fast to retrieve it from its partially obscured position. The sensible approach would have been slow, allowing both pegasi to negotiate the obstacles surrounding it with ease, but Lightning wasn’t slowing up. They had been briefed to stay together, so Rainbow had to stay with her, but called to slow down as they couldn’t both get through the obstructions together at speed. Lightning did not let up and Spitfire's words rang in Rainbow’s ears “Lightning Dust likes to push herself a little harder than you do. That's why I made her Lead Pony.”
When it came, the inevitable impact stung Rainbow; not so much the physical pain, but the sheer foalhardiness of the manoeuvre that she had been forced into and the fact that her Lead Pony was clearly not even concerned. Lead Ponies were supposed to demonstrate loyalty, and loyalty was something that Rainbow Dash knew all about!
That was the second kicking she received that day.
That night, the Dream Walker found a completely different Rainbow in her dreams. She was hurting and needed to recuperate, but the relentless pressure of Wonderbolts Academy would not allow her this luxury and Celestia only knew what demands were to be placed on her tomorrow. Luna soothed her cyan lover as best she could from the dream realm and before she left, forged a link of alicorn magic, far more potent than any she had used on Rainbow before. They were not now just emotionally close, but she had put in place a physical bond that she could activate when her lover needed.
She swore that Rainbow would succeed at the Wonderbolts Academy on her own merits alone and she would not interfere, but this was different. Her lover could fail because of the foalishness of another and she was not going to let that happen. This wasn’t giving her an unfair advantage after all, merely redressing the balance of natural order.
The next day dawned and Rainbow was sore. Her wing hurt from the collision yesterday and she was mightily annoyed with that over-cocky Lightning Dust. The exercise today would be a fearsome looking obstacle course with wind cannons triggered to catch the unwary, or the injured.
Back in her bed chamber in Canterlot, Luna tapped in to the mounting anxiety felt by Rainbow and prepared herself to act. As the time drew near for Rainbow and Lightning to start, Luna’s concentration increased. Suddenly, she convulsed as though she had received an electric shock; her back arched, all four legs kicked and she screamed. She started panting hard and her eyelids snapped open suddenly as Luna stared into the ethereal realm through rose coloured eyes. She gasped in shock as her body was wracked with shooting pains, spasming wildly as she stared unblinkingly into the magical vortex of her own making.
Rainbow readied herself for take off, trying to put out of her mind the pain she felt in her wing and preparing to do the best she could. Just before she pulled her goggles over her eyes a sudden flash struck her from out of nowhere and her eyes turned blue. Immediately, she felt the pain melt away and her attention focused. She was ready to go!
The connection only lasted for a few seconds, but in that time Luna took all Rainbow’s injuries and all her pain, leaving her free to perform at the peak of condition that she had worked so hard to achieve.
The blue alicorn lay panting on her bed and her eyes returned to their usual colour when there came a knock at the door.
“Lulu darling” called the voice “Are you alright?”
She strained to acknowledge her sister, but her exhaustion coupled with her newly acquired physical injuries magnetised her to the bed.
A magical aura of golden magic appeared around the latch to her door that she had secured form the inside, releasing the catch. She raised her head to see the golden glow and then collapsed back, that action being enough to tire her completely. She closed her eyes and was then overcome by a fit of uncontrolled shaking as every muscle in her body rebelled concurrently.
Celestia was at her side in an instant; whatever rights and wrongs her sister may have committed being irrelevant. Quickly she called for assistance and two guards shot off to fetch medical attention.
“It’s OK now Luna” she said reassuringly “The Royal Physicians will be here shortly”.
Luna’s coat glistened with sweat as she kept panting, now unable even to open her eyes at all. Celestia became increasingly worried and searched around for something to reduce her sister’s temperature, her eyes alighting upon a towel which she quickly dampened with a localised precipitation spell and gently dabbed at her face while whispering reassuring words in her ear.
A unicorn physician entered shortly and opened his bag, Celestia standing back as a professional courtesy to give him room. He checked the blue alicorn’s vital signs and then gave her a shot of something that must have included a sedative, because his patient’s surging chest quickly slowed to a more normal level. Once knowing the Princess to be safe, he set about performing a full examination.
“Princess Celestia” he commented “Are you aware that her Highness has incurred a broken wing and extensive bruising?”
“No” she answered looking perplexed “She was fine earlier and hasn’t been anywhere today to the best of my knowledge.”
On a hunch, she cast a spell to check for magic and gasped at what she found; residue from a very powerful body swapping spell overlaid with a teleportation spell.
“Oh Lulu darling” she said under her breath, a tear forming in the corner of her eye “What have you done?”
That evening, Rainbow returned to Canterlot, bursting to tell her lover the news only to be greeted by a serious faced Princess Celestia who told her of her sister’s condition. The returning pegasus stood open mouthed at the news as the penny dropped; her wing was indeed as good as new. Had Luna really done all that for her?
She begged to be allowed to her bedside, but Celestia refused, directing Rainbow instead to sit for a while. Impatient to be with her love, Rainbow afforded greater respect to Celestia than she would to any other pony. They made small talk; Rainbow suddenly feeling how insignificant her news was before Celestia steered the conversation around to what she really wanted to say.
“Rainbow Dash; you have been courting my sister for a long time now and have got to know her well. What she did today would have killed any mortal pony; even Princess Cadence or Princess Twilight could not have done it. Do not be fooled into thinking that I do not love my sister because I banished her to the moon; that was the hardest act I have ever committed and I cried for her every night; every night, Rainbow Dash. My sister has taken a bold step to confirm her love to you today; are you worthy of her?”
This was the toughest question of her life. The bravado stripped away by the sheer humility she felt, she answered the only way she could, tears filling her rose coloured eyes as she choked on her words:
“I am the Element of Loyalty, Princess.”
A gentle clip clopping of hooves stopped alongside her and a blue coated alicorn gave her an affectionate nuzzle.
“And I love you too, Rainbow Dash.”
Author's Note
Yes; Rainbow Dash really does have blue eyes fleetingly in Season 3 Episode 7 “Wonderbolts Academy”!
