Faith
By: The_Incredible_Blunderbolt
Heavy hoofbeats pounded on the earthen roads of Ponyville. In the dim light of the setting sun, a pegasus chased a unicorn, occasionally speeding up to nip her on the ear before slowing down just enough to bump into her side. The air was filled with light, playful laughter as the unicorn tried (and failed) over and over again to avoid her marefriend's bites.
A picnic basket was strung over the pegasus's side, tossing and turning with every jostle its carrier inflicted upon it. The pegasus didn't care, it was empty anyway. And besides, nipping the ends of her giggling partner's ears was simply too much fun to stop even if it had been full. Again, she leaped forward and caught the unicorn's ear in her mouth, a sharp shriek, then a laugh ensued.
“Stop it, Dash!” she giggled.
“Never, Twi!” the pegasus cried. “That ear is mine!”
It'd been during their picnic—or rather, the tickle fight that followed the picnic—that this pegasus, self proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria, had discovered her marefriend's one fatal weakness: her ears. Now, she planned on exploiting it as much as she could until Twilight begged for mercy through choked laughter—such is the way of a date with Rainbow Dash.
They raced through the empty town to the library, Twilight's house and Dash's home away from home. Cackling like a pair of hyenas, they dashed up the steps and to the door. Twilight cried out in surprise as she tried to turn the knob and found it locked.
“Ah, ha!” Rainbow laughed triumphantly. “Gotcha now!” She pounced onto her date's back, and they both went tumbling to the ground with a chorus of chuckles. Capitalizing on Twilight's momentary incapacitation, Rainbow poked a hoof under her ribs and was rewarded with another fit of giggles.
“Rainbow!” she managed between breaths. “Stop it! Can't... breathe!”
Mercifully, the pegasus halted her torturous tickling. The unicorn continued gasping and giggling alternately. Rainbow felt the corner of her mouth perk up at the sight—she didn't know how she managed to catch the eye of a filly like Twilight; she was so sweet, so innocent, so carefree, and somehow, so hers.
“You're cute when you laugh,” Rainbow said softly, running a hoof through Twilight's indigo mane. “You should do it more often.”
The redness fading from the lavender pony's face came back full force. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
Suddenly, it was Rainbow's turn to be dragged to the ground as her marefriend pulled her down and squeezed her tightly. “You're the best, Rainbow.”
“I know that too,” the pegasus answered with a smirk.
Twilight rolled her eyes, but nuzzled her anyway. “Of course you did.”
Dash began to move, shifting her position so that Twilight could get up off of the ground, but paused when she heard paper crinkle under her hooves. “Oops,” she said, spying the scattered envelopes below them. “I think we crushed the mail.”
Twilight got back onto her hooves and dusted herself off. A wide grin still played on her lips and her breathing was still shallow. “That's fine,” she panted, scooping several envelopes up. “They're just a little wrinkled.”
As Twilight flipped through the day's postage, Rainbow knocked a hoof off the door to the library. “Spike!” she called out. “We're back, let us in!”
“That's funny,” Twilight's surprised voice followed. “Rainbow, there's a letter here for you...”
Dash turned around and observed the letter floating before her. Sure enough her name was written tidily in the center. “Why's that funny?” she asked, plucking it out of the air.
“Well,” Twilight began, searching through the remaining letters. “I just don't understand, I guess. Why would anypony write to the library if they wanted to reach you?”
“Um, well...” Dash felt her cheeks grow warm. “I kinda told Derpy to forward my mail here... Is that okay?”
Twilight smiled. “Of course it is!” she laughed. “So, who's it from?”
“Oh, right.” Dash flipped the envelope over in her hoof and read the return address. “It's from...” she paused, then gasped excitedly. “My dad!”
Just then, the door to the library slid open, and a tired young drake appeared in the frame. “Hey—” was all he managed to get out before he was scooped up and carried swiftly into the lobby.
“My Dad wrote me a letter, Spike!” Rainbow cheered, happily bouncing around the room.. “I haven't seen him in forever! He's been out of town for almost a month!”
“A month?” Twilight said uncertainly, picking her assistant up off of the floor and setting him on his feet. He shut the door and waddled off, mumbling something about insane pegasi. “Isn't that a little long?”
“I don't know, Twi,” the cyan pegasus said slyly. She nudged the unicorn and pointed at the calendar, upon which 'One Month Anniversary!' was written in bold red letters and surrounded by a good number of circles. “Is one month a little long?”
Twilight blushed and looked down at the floor to watch her hoof make circles.
“Guess not!” Rainbow laughed, opening the envelope excitedly. “Let's see,” she mumbled to herself as she unfolded the paper inside. “What's going on, Dad?”
Dear Rainbow,
How are you honey? I'm sorry for suddenly disappearing like that, but I'm back in town now, and I bear great news: I've gotten married again!
Dash felt her heart stop. Suddenly, she felt clammy all over, like somepony had turned down the thermostat too far. “Wh-what?” she stammered, “Married?” She couldn't believe it! Her father, her own father, had just gotten married to somepony she'd never even met! Worse still, was the feeling that Rainbow got when she realized that she hadn't even been invited to the wedding!
Now, I know this may come as a bit of a shock to you,
“No kidding,” Dash spat venomously.
you are probably upset and scared, and you have every right to be, but, as always, I have my reasons for everything that I do. Trust me when I say that it is better that you find out this way.
Now that everything is out of the way, we'd love to extend a hoof to you and invite you to dinner tomorrow night. We can get some important catching up done, and I can explain everything to you. Show up anytime you like; my little Dashie is always welcome home!
Thunder Strike
Dash stared at the letter held in her shaking hooves. That was it? Everything? A whole month and the most her father could muster up was two stinking paragraphs? How about a name? Or heck, how about telling her how the hay he'd managed to get married in one month? He hadn't even been dating last time she saw him! This wasn't fair! Her father had never done anything like this to her! She felt cheated, wronged, violated in a way that cut so deep, she just wanted to punch something.
“Um... Rainbow?” Twilight's voice pulled her attention from the most vile piece of mail she'd ever received. “Are... are you okay? Is it bad news?”
“Bad news?” Dash growled, crumpling the paper up into a ball. “No, just my father getting married without even saying anything to me!” She threw the paper ball at the wall, where it bounced rather anticlimactically to the floor. The letter lay there for a moment, the focus of her glare, as if she could somehow intimidate the words to change into one of the messages of happiness and good times she usually got from her father.
A violet aura surrounded the crumpled ball as the unicorn picked it up and unfolded it with her magic. Rainbow waited for her marefriend to read it, her tail swishing back and forth in unbridled rage. Slowly, Twilight's face drooped. When she brought the letter down, Dash saw the concern in her eyes.
“Rainbow,” she whispered, wrapping a foreleg around her lover's neck. “I'm sure he had his reasons.”
Dash growled and fought the urge to shove Twilight away. She didn't want to be touched right now. In fact, she just wanted to be left alone, but she owed it to Twilight to be the best partner she could be, and that meant enduring the embrace that was meant to comfort her. She hung her head low. “I just don't understand...” she choked, “He's always told me everything, so why stop now?”
Twilight's hold only grew tighter. “I don't know Dash,” she said. “I don't know. But why don't you go to that dinner tomorrow? It sounds like you two have a lot to talk about.”
That did it! “I don't want to eat dinner with some stupid mare my dad married!” she roared. Suddenly very claustrophobic, the pegasus threw her partner's forelegs off of her with great force. Ignoring Twilight's yelp of surprise, she began pacing up and down the aisles of the library. “I want to talk to my dad! I want him to look me in the eyes and tell me why his only daughter wasn't even invited to his wedding!” She emphasized the last sentence by punching a book case. The heavy wooden book shelf swayed back and forth dangerously before dumping several dozen books on top of her.
Seething, Dash picked herself up off the floor and made to stomp away, only to slip on a fashion magazine and fall straight back on her face. Giving up on getting back to her hooves, she just lay there and pounded on the floor with her forelegs. Sometime between her ghastly fits of rage and her bitter prophecies of revenge, Twilight had sidled up beside her and taken a seat. Dash froze in mid-stomp when she felt a hoof run through her mane.
“Shh,” Twilight whispered calmly. Again, she dragged a hoof through the pegasus's polychromatic hairline. After a moment or two, Rainbow allowed Twilight to scoop her up and hold her again. “It's okay.”
Dash closed her eyes and lost herself in Twilight's embrace. She took a deep breath and tried to regain control of her breathing, but as she did, something wet slid down her cheek. “Why?” she croaked, more to herself than to her marefriend. She'd never thought her father capable of such treachery; he was the greatest dad in the history of dads! He was always there! He'd been cheering her on from the sidelines for as long as she could remember! And he didn't want her at his wedding? Was it her? Did she do something wrong?
Was she not wanted?
She didn't know how long they sat there together, but eventually, Rainbow managed to calm down, due in large part to Twilight's comforting hoof rubbing her back. She nuzzled the unicorn gratefully; previously, the only shoulder she dared cry on was her father's, if he wasn't around she'd simply bottle her emotions up or scream into clouds. It felt good to know that Twilight was here, just a short walk away.
Breaking away from the hug, Rainbow's magenta eyes met Twilight's purple ones. “Thanks, Twilight,” she managed, her voice cracking only slightly.
“Any time, Rainbow.” Twilight squeezed her one last time before letting her go. She gestured to the letter, now rolled up and abandoned on the floor. “Are you going to go?”
Cyan shoulders shrugged slowly, and she looked at the floor before responding. “I don't know...” she said. “Maybe... Probably...”
Twilight gave her a warm smile. “Why don't you sleep on it? Decide in the morning, when your mind's clear?”
Dash nodded. “Yeah... sounds good.” Suddenly, she looked back up at Twilight, locking her gaze. “If I go... can you come with me?”
If Twilight was startled by Rainbow's sudden burst of passion, she didn't show it. “Really?” she asked. “You want me to go with you to such a... personal thing?”
“Yes,” Dash answered firmly. Rubbing a hoof on the floor, she continued. “I... I don't really wanna go alone...”
“Why not?”
Rainbow Dash cursed her own vocabulary. She didn't know any words that could describe how she felt right now. She looked up at the expectant unicorn; she'd asked a fair question, but she still couldn't answer it. “I just...” she tried. “I just need you there—with me—if I go.
“Besides,” she added as an afterthought. “You'll have to meet my Dad at some point, right?”
Twilight gave her a smile. “Of course I'll go with you,”
Dash breathed a sigh of relief; that dinner was going to be so much easier with her marefriend by her side. She thanked Celestia that Twilight was awesome enough to go with her on such short notice.
A clock chimed in the lobby, alerting the duo to the time. “Wow,” Twilight mused. “Is it that late already?” As if to confirm the clock's judgment, Owlowiscious glided around the leaning book case and landed on her with a hoot. The owl hopped around a few times on its owner's back before taking off again, flying out the window to catch his breakfast.
“Guess it's bedtime, huh?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah,” Dash agreed softly, her mind only partially in the moment. Better you find out this way... she growled inwardly. Why? Don't you love me anymore Dad? “Guess so.”
“Hey.” A hoof on Dash's shoulder brought her back from her brooding. “Don't worry about it, okay? I'm sure everything will be just fine, you'll see.”
“Yeah...”
“Good night?”
“Good night,” she replied automatically. It wasn't until Twilight had turned around and was halfway up the stairs that Dash was fully pulled from her thoughts. “Wait!” she cried, bounding up the stairs in a panic. Just because she'd received some bad news didn't mean all of her plans had to go to waste!
Twilight paused as Rainbow enclosed on her position; Dash noted her cocked eyebrow. “Yes?”
“Well... I, uh,” the pegasus fumbled. “You see, I was just wondering... you know, since it's been a month and all...” her voice trailed off. She's looking at you funny Dash! she thought frantically. Abort! Abort!
“Yes?” Twilight encouraged, a look of mystery still on her face.
Dash took a deep breath and bit her lip. “I was wondering if maybe, um—just for tonight—we could, uh... sleep together?”
Twilight's eyes widened in surprise, but only for a second before they went back to normal. “Why Rainbow,” she said, hiding a chuckle behind her hoof. “You're so forward.”
“What?” Dash exclaimed. Her wings immediately snapped to attention as she began blushing and spluttering nonsensically. “No! I-I-I just meant for us to sleep together!” She paused, partly from embarrassment, and partly from uneasiness. She'd been planning this for a week, and she still messed it up! “Y'know... in the same place and all,” she added sheepishly. “It gets lonely in the guest room sometimes...”
Twilight's face only grew redder the longer the cyan pony defended herself. “Not that I'd say no to that, or anything,” she added hastily. “But that wasn't what I meant, and...” her voice trailed off. Way to go, Dash! she thought bitterly. Now she probably thinks you're some kinda pervert!
Just when the red on Twilight's face rivaled Big Macintosh's, the unicorn burst out in hysteric laughter. She stomped a hoof on the floor, the power of her raucous guffaws too much for her lungs to handle. “You...” she attempted between laughs. “You should have seen the look on your face!”
Rainbow's brow furrowed in confusion. What is she... Then it dawned on her. Fighting back a smile, the young mare attempted to salvage what little remained of her shattered dignity. “Very funny, Twi,” she deadpanned, or at least, tried to. A short giggle escaped from her throat. Quickly, she covered her mouth with a hoof.
No, no, no!
Very much against her will, a stronger, heavier chuckle found its way out of her mouth, followed by a hearty laugh. Soon the two ponies were leaning against each other, each supporting the other as they shared in the humor. “You got me good!” Dash laughed. “I thought you were being serious!”
“Well,” Twilight responded through choking guffaws, “I learned from the best!”
They laughed for a few more minutes, before finally managing to catch their breaths. Dash awkwardly studied her hooves, still unsure what her marefriend's response would be. But, without speaking a word, Twilight turned around and motioned for Rainbow to follow her down the hall.
“Yes!” she cheered quietly, pumping her forehoof. “Awesome!”
Twilight turned back around, her eyebrow cocked. “What was that?”
“Nothing!”
