Twi was the first one to wake up. Several minutes before the alarm went off, she opened her eyes and yawned, right before realizing that she was in the middle of a pony/human sandwich.

Again.

She chuckled at that; she was getting used to waking up with the pegasus's head buried between her tits. And, if she were being honest with herself, it was that feeling she’d miss the most when and if they did leave.

Twi forgot about that for now. With her right hand, she brought it up to Dashie’s mane and started stroking it. It was unkempt, filthy, and ragged. Yet, she loved every single strand. It was Rainbow’s hair in touch, feel, and smell.

As her fingers played through the unkempt mane, Dash snuggled even tighter to her breast. That alone was a feeling worth its weight in gold to Twi: the fur on the pegasus’s muzzle against her sensitive nipples, the soft warm breathing right between her two mounds, and even the small amount of drool that came from her semi-open muzzle, was something she loved.

Part of Twi was still tired, still wanted to sleep in. After all, it was Friday and she didn’t have classes today. Alas, there were other responsibilities that demanded her time: study sessions, her work, and life in general. The last ten days had been wonderful. But, as the saying goes, all good things...

Twi glanced up, seeing that there were only two minutes left until the alarm went off. She had work at noon today, and Rainbow had to be in uniform and down at the field by three for her game at six. There was nothing that could be done for that; however, she could make Dash’s wake up at least somewhat fun.

With a grin, Twi began to run her fingertips down the pegasus’s barrel, lightly teasing, tickling, and rubbing her in all the right spots. Dash cooed softly in her sleep, but didn’t awaken. Twi’s fingers pushed a little deeper, scratching her between her joints, and even under the pegasus’s chin.

Dash cooed more loudly, a dead giveaway she was faking still being asleep. Twi chuckled and started to attack her with her fingers, going from a light massage to a vicious tickle-torture.

The pegasus started laughing loudly at the girl’s actions. “Hey, no fair!”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Twi replied back as she pushed her body up in the air and her head down upon Dash’s barrel, blowing raspberries directly into it and causing Dash to laugh even louder.

“W-what’s going on?” Rainbow asked as she woke up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Her question was answered when the alarm went off directly above their heads. Dash pouted, “Aww, man.”

“Don’t like waking up that way?” Twi asked.

“No, I mean, I do, but…”

“She didn’t want it to end,” Rainbow stated as she reached up and turned off the alarm. Having been in that situation, she could sympathize.

“What I said,” Dash replied with a blush.

Twilight sat up on her haunches and cocked her head in silent contemplation. She was learning so much she had never known about the pegasus that she really wished she could take notes right now. Unfortunately for her, being lost in thought when you’re next to Rainbow is a bad place to be.

Rainbow wrapped an arm around the alicorn and brought Twilight to her chest, forcing her head between her tits as she proceeded to give her the mother-of-all noogies.

“Rainbow!”

Twi and Dash laughed, the former from personal experience of how much that sucked, and being a little grateful that it wasn’t her this time.

In a flash of purple, Twilight disappeared from Rainbow’s grip and reappeared right next to Dash.

Rainbow sighed. “That’s cheating.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Twilight said with a flustered smile and a now super ratty mane.

Dash sat up and wrapped a wing around her, almost as if she were protecting her from any further attacks.

Rainbow blew the pair a raspberry as she made to get up. “Whatever, I’m going to hit the showers.”

“I never knew I was a sore loser,” Dash said with a smile.

“I didn’t lose. It’s just a… tactical retreat.”

“That’s the chicken way of saying that you lost.” Twi giggled.

“I’ll show you losing!” Rainbow said as she made to leap over Twi and to the pegasus.

Twi stopped her before she could. “I think that’s enough for just having woken up. C’mon, let's go to the showers.”

Rainbow cocked one eyebrow and glared at the pegasus. “This isn’t over,” she said playfully.

“Actually, it is.” Twi stated with a kiss to Rainbow’s cheek. “C’mon, we both have places to be today.”

Twilight and Dash grinned as they watched Twi stand up and lead Rainbow away from the two of them. They could tell she was simply playing with them this morning, and that put a smile on both of their muzzles. However, before Dash could egg her on, Twilight raised a wing above her muzzle and shook her head, telling the mare to let it go.

Dash cocked an eyebrow but kept her trap shut. She watched as Twi grabbed two towels and their toiletry bag before the girls left the room.

When they were gone Dash asked, “Why’d you stop me? I was just screwing with myself.”

“Same reason we’re not going to take a shower with them, we gotta pick the next location to explore.”

“That’s why you don’t want to take a shower?”

“We can wash off when we get there,” Twilight said as she levitated over their list.

Dash huffed at missed fun, but as Twilight pulled out the list, she couldn’t help but say, “Twilight… I… um…”

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“I mean… nothing. Nevermind, it’s dumb.”

The alicorn let the list fall to the bed as she turned to the pegasus, concern on her face. “Dashie, if it’s bothering you, it’s not dumb. Please, tell me.”

The pegasus looked down at the bed, running a hoof back and forth across the bed sheets. “I… um… I know we gotta get back and all, but…”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “But when we do, you’ll miss them.”

“Yeah… Hey Twilight? Remember what you said the other day, that we could come back and visit?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“How possible is that?”

Twilight opened her muzzle to answer, but shut it again. She couldn’t lie to Dash. “Not very likely, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to find a way.”

Dash snorted. “The odds, egghead, the odds.”

“If I think about the events and the accident that brought us here, and that the portal is usually set to a different world. I’d say… not even twenty percent,” Twilight mumbled, ears flat on her head before looking up and kissing Dash. “But I’ll still try, no matter how long it takes.”

Dash returned the kiss, but she didn’t feel like putting much effort into it. “Yeah… but I mean, even if we get the twenty, how often would we even get to come back? I mean… you barely get to see your friends in that other world as is, and now you have two worlds…”

“Dash, I don’t love them like I love you. This world is way more important to me.”

“So if we get lucky, we’d come back like once a week?” Dash asked, only for her ears to fall flat at the look on Twilight's face.

Twilight looked down before blushing. “I was kinda thinking every night, actually,” she mumbled.

“What‽”

Twilight giggled, then shook her head. “No, Dash. We couldn’t come back that often, but I don’t think once a month would be too much.”

“One day a month, huh?” Dash said with a frown.

“Think of it like a little vacation, we come back and spend maybe two or three days here. It’d be something to look forward to during the month,” Twilight said, running her wing softly over her marefriend’s back. “I’ll miss them as much as you, but we both have responsibilities and friends in our world.”

Dash pushed herself against the wing and cooed in pleasure as it ran across her fur. When Twilight inevitably pulled it back, she sighed, missing its touch already. “Well… I guess that’s better than nothing.”

“Besides, I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” Twilight said, “we still gotta find magic native to this world.”

“Can I pick‽” Dash asked as she moved even closer to Twilight, their coats touching.

“I don’t see why not,” Twilight replied with a smile as she unfolded the list. “Let’s see, we got: The Great Pyramids of a place called Giza, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Statue of Zeus, A place called Stonehenge, and then The Temple of Artemis—” Twilight stated as she started naming off a few of the locations she had gathered up.

“Let’s do the fourth one,” Dash interrupted before Twilight could go on.

“Why that one?” Twilight asked.

“It’s number four on the list.”

“So?”

“There’s four of us, so maybe that matters?”

“Dash…” Twilight started, fighting against the urge to facehoof. She suddenly stopped and chuckled. “Never change.”

“So we’ll go there?”

“Sure, why not,” Twilight said with a grin. She placed the list down and levitated the laptop over to her. The site ‘Google Maps’ was incredibly useful for plotting out the location she needed to teleport them too. “It’ll take me about twenty minutes to get everything ready. Oh… look at that, there’s a river nearby.”

Dash nodded at that, then smiled. “Good, ‘cause Twilight?”

Twilight looked up at that. “What?”

“You stink,” Dash said with a chuckle, only to get a pillow magically thrown in her face for her comment.

When the girls got back to their room, Rainbow with her arm around Twi’s midsection, Twi found she couldn’t stay mad. Rainbow had bragged to everyone in the restroom about her ‘bruises’ AKA bite marks, and yet, after everything they had been through, Twi found herself simply not caring. She knew, logically, she should have been embarrassed, but she wasn’t. And in that, there was something strangely freeing about it.

She wasn’t worried in the slightest of what other’s would say, Twi only cared what Rainbow thought, and her feelings on it were obvious.

Of course when the restroom clapped and cheered, the girl realized that she had little to worry about. That alone was strange. Women—especially other women—were normally so judgmental to one another. More often than not, Twi would walk into the restroom and overhear hurtful gossip between two girls at the sinks about a third girl that wasn’t there.

This last week, that had become almost non-existent. She didn’t know if it was just because she was now the target, or if they had stopped.

Is it because of the nudity?

The question vexed her, but she was given no time to consider it further as Rainbow suddenly grasped her by the chin and kissed her on the lips.

“What was that for?” Twi asked.

“Just a way of saying thanks.”

“If you always thank me like that, I’ll consider biting you more often.” Twi grinned.

“No problem with that, egghead.”

Twi lay her head against Rainbow’s arm, grasping it with her hands as the two walked back to their room. “I love you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow kissed the top of Twi’s head. “I love you too, Twi.”

As they approached the door, Twi reached out to grasp the doorknob. “I think that’ll be the weirdest part, going back to not being called Twi.”

Rainbow cocked her head, confused. “What do you mean? I’ll always call you Twi.”

“And you’ll always be my Rainbow.”

Rainbow grinned at that, but then looked confused as Twi didn’t open the door. “What’s—”

“You know the story of Noah’s flood?”

“Big boat, two of each animal of opposite sex in existence that didn’t fuck or eat each other, and then the world was repopulated through one family’s incest sex afterwards?” Rainbow asked with a deadpan expression.

Twi shook her head. “The point I was getting at was, that’s kind of where the legend of rainbows came from.”

“When the guy who killed the world promised he’d never do it again?”

“Exactly.”

“So they’re a promise the world won’t end?”

“They’re a promise that there will be a new day.”

“You believe that?” Rainbow asked.

“The world flooding? No, but I think I do believe in the promise of a rainbow.”

Twi let Rainbow go, allowing Rainbow to place her free hand on her shoulder. With a smile, Rainbow leaned down and kissed Twi gingerly on the lips. They held the kiss—Rainbow bent down, Twi holding her head up, eyes closed—simply enjoying the tender moment Rainbow had done her best to try and ruin. When they broke apart, Rainbow smiled before saying: “I don’t know about God’s promises, but you can always count on mine.”

“And that’s the promise of a rainbow, at least to me,” Twi replied before opening the door.

“Welcome back,” Twilight said with a smile as she and Dash sat at the foot of the bed, a bag strung around the pegasus in a lackadaisical manner. “I hope you don’t mind if we borrow one of your backpacks, we might have to sleep outside tonight.”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow asked.

“We have a new destination to go look at,” Twilight replied, confused. “Remember? Like we said last night.”

“We said we’d talk about it today,” Rainbow said.

Twi sighed as she closed the door behind them. “Rainbow, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“No, we… I…” Rainbow looked at her, confused.

“We can’t go with them this time,” Twi stated.

“Yeah we can!”

“Rainbow…” Twi brought up a finger to the girl’s lips, a clear indication she should be quiet now. She went to rebel, but stopped when she saw the look of hurt in Twi’s eyes. “How are you going to this school?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re here on a scholarship,” Twi stated, “a soccer scholarship.”

“Yeah, and?”

“That means you can’t miss games.”

“Yes I can!”

“Rainbow, if you miss one game unexcused you’re on probation. Two, and then you lose your scholarship.”

Rainbow growled and stomped her feet, seriously in a rage before simply stopping. Only Twi and Twilight noticed the tear in her eye before she stormed to her bed, going silent.

“What the hay is her problem?” Dash asked bewildered.

“She doesn’t want you two to go,” Twi said sadly.

On reflex alone, Twilight wrapped a wing around the pegasus. Almost as if she were saying the same thing. Twi sighed and walked over to the girl, she sat on the bed and wrapped an arm around Rainbow’s back. Lightly rubbing it up and down, she sought to help in any way she could.

Rainbow lay her head against Twi’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“We… we should get going,” Twilight said. “It’ll take me a day to recover from this and the longer we drag it out—”

“You’ll come back though, right?” Rainbow asked without looking up.

“Of course,” Twilight replied. “Even if we do find something, I’ll make sure we come back, even if it’s just to… just to say goodbye.”

“If you never find anything… Will you just stay here with me and Twi?”

“Rainbow… I…” Twilight started, just to be cut off by Dash.

“Look, we’re gonna miss you two just as much, but this isn’t our world. As much as it feels like home, we just don’t belong here.”

“When did you start acting so mature?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“You know the answer already,” Dash smirked back.

“Where are you going anyway?” Twi asked.

“Stonehenge?” Twilight said. “I think that’s what it’s called anyway. Dash picked it.”

“I’ve always wanted to visit,” Twi said with a small smile.

“Maybe you girls can come next time?” Dash asked.

“Maybe, depends…” Twi replied.

“Okay then, we’ll be back tomorrow,” Twilight said with a frown. She really didn’t want to go without them either, even though she knew they had to. However, that frown became a smile when she looked down and saw the Smarty Pants doll: their way back. Using her magic, she levitated it up to the two girls. Twi caught it, confused. “Hold on to that, it’s how we’ll get back here.”

Twilight smiled as she saw Rainbow take it from Twi and hold it against her chest. “Ready Dash?”

“Ready,” the pegasus replied as she tightened the awkward fitting straps around her shoulder blades and readied her wings, knowing she would need them soon.

As Twilight powered up her horn, she looked back one more time to the two girls. Rainbow raised her head and mouthed her next two words.

Good luck.

Twi closed her eyes right before the magic energy teleported the pair of ponies over three-thousand miles away. She had been amazed at how Dash had taken it, that is until she saw a tear fall from the pegasus’s face right before they teleported away.

When they both blinked their vision back after the flash of purple, the girls were left in the room, alone. Rainbow raised her head from Twi’s shoulders and rubbed her fingers through her eyes to get a rogue speck of dirt out of them.

Or that’s the lie she would have went with had someone called her out on it.

Twi looked at the doll in Rainbow's hands. It had always been a point of contention between the two, something Rainbow would tease her about whenever it was brought out. Right now, she suspected that the entire football team couldn’t pry that doll from Rainbow’s grip.

“You going to be okay?” Twi asked.

“Yeah, just… need a moment.”

“Rainbow, they promised to visit us.“

“No. Twilight said that she’ll try to find a way so they can visit us. That doesn’t mean that they actually can.” Rainbow snorted with bitterness in her voice.

“Well… yeah… But they’ll be back tomorrow, one way or another.”

“I know… But… why do I feel like…”

“Like when Tank died?” Twi asked.

Rainbow held the doll even tighter. “I know they probably won't find anything. Our world doesn’t have magic, but…”

“Rainbow. If they find something and never come back… Do you think that you’ll be able to move past it? We can’t change their mind; it’s their world, where they came from after all. We can’t replace all their friends, family and those they love,” Twi said, gently running her fingers through some strands of Rainbow’s hair.

Rainbow hated how she felt, but when Twi’s hand passed through her hair, touching the side of her face, she couldn’t help but smile. She reached her hand up and took Twi’s. “Promise me.”

“What?” Twi asked as she saw Rainbow turn her head to look at her.

The girl ran her thumb over the back of Twi’s hand and spoke her next words, “That this won’t leave?”

Twi looked down at her hand, and then at Rainbow’s face. “Rainbow, I’ll always be by your side.”

“Always?”

“Rainbow, I love you with all my heart. No matter what you do, say, or think, I’m yours. And that’s forever.” Twi smiled lovingly.

At those words, Rainbow laid back down in bed, never letting go of Twi’s hand. The girl smiled back and laid down next to her, She let Rainbow hold her left hand and lay her head on Rainbow’s right shoulder. She placed her right hand on Rainbow’s stomach, hugging her tightly.

“You’ll always be mine, Rainbow.”

“Always and forever,” Rainbow replied back as she turned her head so they could look each other in the eye.

Twi stared into those magenta eyes, those deep pools of purplish-red that she could simply drown herself in. She reflected that this was the truth of Rainbow, the side she hid from the world. The other side—the brash, arrogant, reckless daredevil—that was nothing more than a mask. This, this right here, this was her exposed, physically, and emotionally. This was Rainbow opened up and vulnerable.

She knew it was only for her.

It was that last part that simply melted Twi’s heart. It was so rare to see, but when she saw it, it reminded her about everything that truly mattered, everything she’d willingly give her life for.

It was easy for someone to assume that Rainbow was the strong one, Twi’s rock to lean on; and while that last bit was true, she was only strong because she had someone there, because she had Twi there. Otherwise, she’d be a boat in a storm, doing her best to hold her own but ultimately at the mercy of the tides.

As they stared into each other’s eyes for longer than either of them cared to count, Twi noticed something out of the corner of her eye that she wished she hadn’t. But once it was seen, she could not unsee it.

“Rainbow?”

“Yes, Twi?”

“I gotta go to work.”

It was then Rainbow did something that surprised both of them. She laughed. It started off as nothing more than a chuckle, one that grew into a giggle, and then all out laughter. She lay her head back against the bed and let go of Twi’s hand to run her fingers through her hair. “That’s funny.”

“I can try and—”

“No, go ahead,” Rainbow replied, then she looked over at her. “I’m serious, go to work.”

Twi only raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Sure, egghead. Go ahead.”

“Rainbow, you’re not thinking about a plan to keep them here, are you? It’s their life.”

“I’m not confirming or denying this.” The tall girl grinned.

Twi stood up; that wasn’t the answer she wanted. In fact, in Rainbow speech, that was basically her saying she was. However, she wouldn’t press it; the clock was ticking down behind the girl’s head, telling Twi that she only had ten minutes to get dressed and get to the library. “I’m trusting you on this.”

Rainbow placed her hands behind her head so she could watch Twi get dressed. There was always something about watching her undress or dress that Rainbow just loved to see. Granted, she always preferred undressing, but one could not come without the other.

“You coming to my game?” Rainbow asked.

“Wouldn’t dream of missing it,” Twi said with a smile.

“Your usual spot?” Rainbow asked.

“Always.”

Rainbow smiled at that as Twi reached into her locker and pulled out a floor-length lavender dress. The entire fabric of which was made from silk just like the rest of the clothes Rarity had sent over. This one wasn’t backless, but the front had a huge v-line cut that started almost at her bellybutton and cupped her breasts tightly.

Rainbow whistled. “You really do look sexy in all of those clothes.”

“Thanks,” Twi said with a blush as she fit the strap over her right shoulder and then her left. After a small adjustment to her tits, she checked herself out in the mirror and whistled. “Maybe I should try out for a beauty pageant.”

“I’d vote for you.”

“You think Rarity would let me model with you?”

Rainbow paused at that. “Wait… you want to go too?”

Twi chuckled a bit as she grabbed her stuff. “Did you really think I’d want to spend the summer without you?”

“I just… I…” Rainbow paused. Truly she hadn’t thought of that. Rainbow just knew it would suck so she purposely tried not to think of it.

Twi smiled as she walked out of the door. “Rainbow, I don’t want to spend a day without you by my side, why would you think I’d want to spend a summer without you? I love you, you big dork.”

Rainbow chuckled and smiled at her. “I love you too, egghead.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Twi stated as she blew her a kiss while closing the door.

Rainbow caught it in a hand while saying, “Never.”

When the door was shut, Rainbow opened her palm and stared at it. How is it, something that doesn’t exist—that’s not really there—carries so much value to me? She gave up trying to figure it out and simply pressed her hand to her chest, as if to put the imaginary kiss she had caught right next to her heart; to keep it safe for all time.

The girl rolled over and tried to get back to sleep; it was her usual routine on the days Twi had to get up before her. Wake up with her, feel her up, try and get her in the mood so they could fuck instead; and when that didn’t work and Twi had to work, rollover, masturbate, and go back to sleep was the usual norm for her.

Today, she wasn’t in the mood for any of those things. There was zero desire to get herself off, sleep… that was a pipe dream, and worse, the room that had once seemed so small to her, was now rather… big. Almost oppressively so.

After an hour of trying, Rainbow rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling.

“Fuck me…”

And for the first time in a while, she didn’t mean it literally.

Twi found her day at the library to be rather… strange. Three times she caught herself putting books back in the wrong spot, misreading catalog numbers, or simply staring off into the void. Her thoughts were plagued by Rainbow and how depressed she seemed.

I wonder if there is any way I can cheer her up?

Twi had a funny feeling that the answer to that question was a very definitive: No. Only time would help Rainbow, time and a shoulder to cry on.

As she shelved another book up on the third floor, she was very happy to be able to give her the second.

“Damn, Twilight. You be lookin’ fine!” A voice called out from behind her.

Twilight dropped the book she had been about to shelve next. “Oh, hey, Thunderlane, what are you doing here?”

Thunderlane walked closer. The Wonderbolts’ lineman was six foot one, two hundred and thirty-five pounds of stacked muscle under a slight beer gut, brown eyes, and light blue-white mohawk hair. He had a smile on his face as his eyes lingered on Twi’s dress—certain areas of Twi’s dress. “Just came to get a book, I can’t seem to find it though, so I was wondering if a certain, sexy-librarian would be willing to help me.”

“A sexy librarian that has a girlfriend who would call dibs on your special parts if she was here,” Twi deadpanned.

“Call me guilty. It’s just not every day a librarian looks sexy like you,” he continued.

“Thunderlane…”

“How about we find an empty room together, and you teach me all about… books.”

Now Twi seriously started to worry. Usually, every boy would just stand back after she’d threaten them with Rainbow, but Thunderlane really seemed to miss that part.

“Thunderlane, I’m not interested in boys and especially not in you. I’ve got Rainbow and that’s enough.”

“Seriously? Rainbow is, at minimum, half a boy, so why don’t you upgrade to a full one?”

Just as Twi started to get angry, Thunderlane yelped.

“What was that?” a voice asked as Twi breathed out. Vinyl.

“Vinyl, put that thing away!” Thunderlane replied while his eyes nearly bugged out.

“Yeah… No. You know that Twi belongs to Rainbow, so fuck off before I take this personally,” Vinyl growled.

Twi watched with wide eyes and Vinyl pressed the sharpened end of a switchblade into Thunderlane’s neck. She had no idea how it wasn’t cutting into his skin, but figured that only Vinyl’s skill with the knife had prevented that little occurrence.

“Vinyl, you wouldn’t really…”

“You bet your ass I would.”

“I’ll fucking rat you out for this,” Thunderlane growled.

Vinyl laughed as she lightly drew the blade across the skin of his neck, it left a red trail where it pressed, but no blood, not yet anyway.

“Thunderlane, I know Vinyl well enough to say she isn’t joking. And if your well-being is worth anything to you, then you’ll go and never talk about it again. Because if Rainbow gets wind of this, you’ll be more than just one ball short after she’s through with you,” Twi said with no empathy for the boy, who was seriously sweating now.

“I’ll just slit your throat; Rainbow will cut your dick off and feed it to you just by hearing a rumor about this. You still going to open your big fucking mouth?” Vinyl whispered the words into his ear, almost as one would a lover.

“N-no.” Thunderlane said.

“You going to try this shit again?” Vinyl asked as she pulled the blade away.

“NO!” he screamed before bolting off, faster than he appeared at the start of this.

Vinyl spun the blade in her hand, flicking it around in movements far faster than Twi could follow before closing her hand on a fully closed switchblade. “You okay?” she asked Twi.

“Y-yeah…” Twi started as she looked down. The whole experience had shaken her a bit.

“I’m almost tempted to tell Rainbow. If the fucker can’t keep it in his pants, maybe he should have to eat a dick himself.”

Twi looked up. “Please don’t, I don’t know what she’d actually do, but I do know it’d be bad for everyone. And it’s not like he actually did anything, had he tried, I’ve have just kneed him in the nuts.”

“Seriously? Because he didn’t actually get to do anything you, don’t want to see his ass pay anyway?” Vinyl asked with a raised eyebrow. “Let me ask, if Rainbow even heard about this, what would she think? What would she do?”

“I can tell you what she did. One year ago a boy tried to grab my ass in the line to the theater. He only touched it for a millisecond and Rainbow broke his nose... in five different places,” Twi replied.

“Sounds like he deserved it.”

“Yeah, but it got her in trouble, if she maimed Thunderlane, they’d… they’d take her away from me.” Tears started to fall down the girl’s face at just the thought of that. “I… I can’t lose her.”

Vinyl wrapped Twi up in her arms and cooed quietly as she let the girl cry out into her shoulders. “Fine, I won’t tell her everything about what happened, how’s that?”

“What will you tell her?” Twi asked, concerned.

“Just that Thunderlane was pushing his luck with a girl, and I stopped it. I’ll let the football team know he needs his ass kicked too. They’re pretty good about policing their own; they’ll set him straight. If he want’s to stay on the team, not be an outcast, and if he likes his dick between his legs, he’ll take the beatings he deserves.”

“You know Rainbow won’t let it slide at just that, not until you tell her who he tried his luck with,” Twi deadpanned.

“I know, but I can still call in a favor from a certain someone,” Vinyl smiled as she remembered a rather fun night with that very girl just a few days ago.

“What favor?”

“Now that’d be telling,” Vinyl said.

Twi raised a eyebrow, but quickly decided that, given Vinyl’s reputation, she was probably better off not knowing.

Vinyl went to hand the blade to Twi. “You want to keep this?”

Twi looked at it and shook her head no. “Sorry, it’s not legal to carry a weapon like that on campus.”

“Ehh,” Vinyl said as she stuck it back in her pocket. “You do know that ‘that’ was not your fault though, right?”

Twi shook her head. “I know.”

“If he can’t keep it in his pants, that’s on him. Not you. Wear what you want to wear, he always has the option of not looking.”

“I have a feeling that you would castrate any boy that even looks at Octavia,” Twi chuckled.

“You bet your ass on that.” Vinyl giggled and made a little show pulling out her blade again and playing with it before putting it back in her pocket. “Stay safe, egghead!”

“Thanks, Vinyl. I owe you one.”

Vinyl cocked her head before raising her red sunglasses. “Fuck no, I’m still in your debt after you two… well, I’m sure you know the rest.” At that she walked off, raising a hand in goodbye.

Twi blushed. She knew the rest all too well. Somedays she wondered if Octavia would be able to talk in the morning with how high pitched her screams would get. I wonder if Rainbow would be up for challenging them one day to see which room can scream the loudest?

She paused, wondering where that thought had come from, and wondering why the idea excited her so.

Rainbow tried to take a quick nap since her game was in a few hours, but she couldn’t. Her thoughts always wandered back to Twi and the two ponies. Her main question was if she would ever see them again once they returned from their trip.

If they found what they’re looking for, we may never see them again, she thought. No, we will never see them again. She was sure about that, and it hurt more than she wanted to reveal.

“Oh, buck it,” Rainbow growled and got up to make her way to the restroom. A quick splash of water to her face and she’d be good as new.

Rainbow hoped anyway.

She made it to the bathroom without an issue. While she had passed several sets of nude girls, either in the hallway or in the bathroom itself, none of them so much as gave her a second look. For all of them, it was just another day. She walked up to the sink and turned it on. With her hands, she cupped the water and splashed it into her face several times, even going as far as to rub her eyes clear of last night’s sleep.

“Good morning, Rainbow,” a voice stated from behind her.

Rainbow opened one eye and looked into the mirror to see Octavia pass by. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Fine, although I must admit to being surprised last night.”

“Why’s that?” Rainbow asked as she turned around to watch the nude girl walk over to a sink herself.

“Well, you and Twilight have been rather… busy this last week. And last night we didn’t hear… anything.”

“You and Vi were just as busy.” Rainbow chuckled. “We were just tired after a long day.”

They both grinned at that, Octavia blushing and Rainbow more proud than anything else. “Speaking of Vinyl, where is your worse-half anyway?”

“Vinyl? She had to run to the library. I told her I needed a book on classical musical literature, and rather than have me get dressed, she went to get it herself.”

“Heh, knowing her, you won’t wear clothes for the rest of your life if she can prevent it.” Rainbow started laughing.

Octavia’s blush grew even more pronounced. “We’d definitely sell out concerts, wouldn’t we?”

“You can bet your classic-loving ass on that,” Rainbow said, grinning. “And you can also bet that Twi and I would be in the first row, bare-ass-nude, and cheering you on.”

The girl laughed at that. She knew it was impossible, but she was starting to get excited just thinking of it. “Well, I don’t know about concerts, but what if you two show up for our next practice? It might be rather… unorthodox.”

“Gazuntite?”

“A clothing-optional affair,” Octavia said with a smile.

“Oh, really? Count us in,” Rainbow said with a grin as she left the bathroom. “And count us in for the additional fun, too! See ya later, Octy!” she added laughing, while the cellist quickly threw water in her face to cease the furious blush.

Additional fun… does she mean? Octavia went to throw some water on her own face, but regardless of how much she used, the blush would not go away. Well, we did already have that night with Jessica...

Down the hall, Rainbow thought, Maybe I should ask Twi if she would agree to have some fun with them. A foursome with our best friends? Rainbow thought, giggling before stopping. Naaah, maybe not. Or… Rainbow shook her head. That was a thought for some other time.

“Hey, rookie!” A voice from the other end of the hall called out.

Rainbow turned around on a dime. “Captain?” she asked Spitfire who was glaring at her from down the hall.

“We’re getting together for a strategy session for tonight’s game in an hour. Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“An hour? Why the fuck am I just hearing about it now?”

“Don’t take that tone with me, greeny. I sent the entire team a group text message about it yesterday.”

“Hey, you still owe me, so stop bitching, I’ll get dressed. Besides, my phone was broken and I had to get a new one. Tell me in person next time,” Rainbow growled.

“That debt was paid, I wrote off the ten and any else you might earn for the next few days. Or should I bring back those ten I wrote off?”

Rainbow grumbled at that. “Fine.”

“Rookie, don’t make me…”

“Bite me,” Rainbow replied before turning and walking to her room.

“Based on those bite marks on your ass, Twi already beat me to it. Now get dressed and move your ass. If you’re late, I’ll do more than just make your lazy fat ass run ten rounds,” Spitfire called after her.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Rainbow said. She’d pushed her luck these last few days. But just to get under Spitfire’s skin, not to actually get into trouble. Of course, even she knew that once her two ‘free-weeks’ were over, she’d have to suddenly grow wings and a halo when she was around Spitfire.

Still, it was fun to tease her while she could.

Rainbow’s smile disappeared when she walked into the room. It was… it was empty. She could still smell them, all three of them; she could almost hear her other self in the room, saying and doing stupid things that would no doubt get under everyone’s skin. She could almost see the little studious alicorn with her nose buried in the laptop, or with it buried in Dash’s snatch.

Rainbow closed her eyes and opened them. In the time it took for her to blink, they were gone. Twilight the studious alicorn pony princess, Dash the brash and reckless pegasus Wonderbolt cadet, and even Twi.

The last one almost caused her to break down into tears. She could still feel Twi’s hand against her own, almost like she was still holding it. And yet… and yet she wasn’t here, she was at the library, working.

She wasn’t gone, but she was… gone.

When her memories of Sunday came back, the girl fell to the floor with her back pressed against the closed door and started weeping.

Twilight had been right. The alicorn—in heat—had seen her actions for what they were. Saw her bullshit excuse of her not wanting to hurt Twi anymore by leaving as nothing but Rainbow running away from the only thing that really fucking mattered in her life. All so she wouldn’t have to take responsibility for hurting Twi anymore, so she couldn’t hurt her anymore, so she wouldn’t hurt her anymore.

“I’m so sorry.”

The pain, the horror of what she had almost done came back to her ten-fold and she wept. There was no one around to see her, no one to notice or call her out on it, so she didn’t try to hold back. She simply held her knees to her chest and let it out. She let it all out.

None of that now, where’s my brave Rainbow?

The voice came from inside her head. Rainbow could hear it, she could hear Twi’s voice talking to her. She could almost feel the girl’s soft hand placed on her shoulders in a warm gesture of kindness.

In a pantomime of real life, she placed her hand on top of Twi’s. “You’re right Twi, you’re always right.”

And don’t you forget it, now get up, you’ve got a game to get to today.

“Yeah… will do.” Rainbow wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up. The room was still empty. There were no little ponies running around, Twi was not here, and yet she felt better. The girl walked over to her locker and pulled out a fresh Wonderbolt soccer uniform for her to wear. She took notice of how easy it was to find with her locker clean, and that it was her last clean one.

“Need to do laundry tonight. Don’t let me forget, Twi,” she said to herself.

Slipping her shirt over her head, her shorts up her legs, and grabbing socks and shoes, Rainbow left the room. Before she closed and locked the door, she looked back only once. In her mind’s eye, she saw the little purple princess grinning back, wishing her a good day. She saw the pegasus huffing a little, thinking it was all overblown, and she smiled back.

Maybe I’m going crazy, she thought with a smile. But, to me, they’re my family. All of them.

Rainbow closed the door and locked it. As she left the dorms, she had the oddest expression on her face: She was smiling.

The field was on the other side of the campus, but Rainbow kept her pace brisk, enjoying the sights, the view, and the wind as it blew over her skin just enough to cause little goosebumps on her arms and legs.

She walked the path past the library and briefly considered stopping in to check on Twi; to simply surprise her with a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. That distraction almost caused her to walk right into Thunderlane, who was currently trying to put as much distance between himself and the library as he could.

“Rainbow‽” He almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of the girl.

“Hey, Thunderlane, what’s up?”

“Did you see Vinyl by any chance?” he asked, seemingly nervous.

“No, sorry. I think she went to the library though.”

That seemed to make Thunderlane even more nervous. Rainbow had to cover a laugh as she saw him quickly cover his crotch. “Oh, well. You’ll want to avoid her, she’s in a bad mood,” he quickly stammered before rushing off, looking back every second as if Rainbow would chase him down any minute.

He didn’t… he didn’t fuck with Octy, did he? Naa… he wouldn’t be that stupid. Vinyl'd cut a bitch.

Rainbow made a mental note to find out what happened , specifically from Vinyl; but, for now, she continued on to the field. Her thoughts of checking up on Twi were quickly forgotten after that unique experience.

The girl waved at a few passersby and even smiled as Minuette walked by, hand and hand with Roseluck. She jumped when they passed and Minuette slapped her ass. “Hey! You owe me by the way!” Rainbow chuckled.

“What? I was just returning your property,” Minuette said with a seductress's smile.

“Yeah, I don’t like others playing with my toys, so yes, you owe me.”

“Mhmm, look forward to paying you back then,” Minuette said, grinning. Roseluck was ready to faint.

Rainbow smiled and winked as she waved goodbye to the pair. That was one debt she had every intention of collecting.

The rest of the walk to the field proved to be rather uneventful. She arrived later than anyone would have liked, but still technically on time. Only to be met with scornful gazes by Misty, Surprise, and even Fleetfoot.

Rainbow blew them a raspberry as she took a knee to listen to Spitfire's briefing.

It got boring, quickly. As with every time before the game, Spitfire did the research, learned what plays the other team liked to use, and figured out all the logistics of the best ways to counter them.

She’d go through and place each of her team members, using their natural strengths to counter the opposing team’s weaknesses. It made no difference to Rainbow one way or the other, her position never seemed to change: center forward, just like always. Her task: get the ball and score as many goals as she possibly could before the game ended.

Why they made her even come to these things, she’d never know. Still, she was here, technically on time, so they couldn’t say shit.

“Which brings us to Rainbow Dash. Someone please tap her on the shoulder so she knows we're talking to her now,” Spitfire said.

It was Fleetfoot that got the girl’s attention. “Huh, what?” Rainbow asked as she realized everyone was looking at her.

“Rainbow, for this game, I’m swapping you and Misty. You’re in the withdrawn striker position.”

“What? Bullshit, why?”

“Because they’ve prepared their defense for you and you alone. I watched their last game, they’re expecting you, Rainbow.”

“They wouldn’t be the first team to prepare just for me and you know that. You’ve never changed my position before, so why now? Are you just trying to get under my skin for what happened?” Rainbow growled.

“Rookie, watch what you say.”

“No, you listen to me. I can’t do anything about your actions, but if you give me shit for it now, we’re done here. I’ve got better things I could be doing today rather than playing second chair in your song,” Rainbow said.

Spitfire simply glared at her while the others waited what would happen. “Alright. The rookie keeps her usual position, but it’s her fault if we lose.”

Rainbow grinned, knowing that it didn’t matter what bullshit defense they had developed, she’d show them up easy enough. With that same smile she got up with the rest of them and left when the briefing was over.

As it would turn out, it did matter. It mattered a whole hell of a lot.

The game began much the same way as all of the rest. They had one final debrief in the locker room before stepping out to take the field. Spitfire as goalie, Rainbow center front, Misty withdrawn striker, and Fleetfoot and Surprise as wide midfielders. The defensive players fell in line right behind them and between Spitfire.

Rainbow smirked as she looked over to the usual spot that Twi was sitting in. It had been the first time she saw her that day when she left for work. The girl looked like an angel to her. Something that beautiful dress only seemed to enhance in all the right ways.

Rainbow called heads on the coin flip, only for it to come up tails. A bad start, but nothing she couldn’t recover from. The other team’s center fielder kicked the ball to her teammate and the game began in earnest.

She kicked it back, right to Rainbow’s opposite. The girl smiled and sprinted forward, putting on a burst of speed the other team was simply not prepared for. Rainbow swept the ball out from her feet and pressed her advantage. Only to almost immediately be met by the other team’s center backs and sweeper.

She tried to fake left, almost tripping when the right centerback had been expecting that. She gave her teammate just enough of an opening for the left centerback to steal the ball and kick it downrange to her left winger.

Rainbow frowned as she was so easily countered. Her expression showing just how pissed she was at that. By themselves, her eyes drifted over to Twi, only to see a concerned expression on the girl’s face.

That look did nothing to help Rainbow’s mood. “Shake it off, Rainbow. It’s just one ball. Look, they didn’t even score,” Misty said as the pair moved into position.

She had been right; Spitfire caught their attempt and was even now drop-kicked the ball back to her left winger.

Rainbow shook her head and tried to get her mind back in the game.

You call yourself a Rainbow Dash? Please, a mouse could do better than that! Dash’s voice in her head did nothing to help her focus.

The first half of the game went largely the same way. Every time Rainbow would get the ball, every time she was in the perfect position to score, there would be a two or three to one defensive formation waiting for her. She tried every feint, every trick she knew in order to get past, nothing worked. They had prepared for everything she had. In the end, after the fourth such shutdown, the Wonderbolts only had one point on the board due to her passing the ball to Fleetfoot and Fleetfoot taking the goal.

When halftime finally came, it was two to one against them. Spitfire was one of the best goalies Rainbow had ever seen, but even she couldn’t block everything.

Rainbow huffed as she made her way to the locker room. She was mad at herself, her team was mad at her, or at least Rainbow thought they were, but the real kicker—two minutes before the halftime buzzer blew, Twi wasn’t in her spot.

Twi’s disappointed in me too.

Somehow, she’d have preferred it if Twi was mad instead. Nothing hurt worse than when someone you loved was disappointed in you.

“What is wrong with you today?”

Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks to see Twi with a worried expression standing in the hallway to the locker room. She hesitated only for a second before pulling the smaller girl into her arm, hugging and kissing her for all her might.

“Rainbow, what’s wrong? I heard Spitfire saying something about you being a bonehead and pushing your pride in front of the team again,” Twi whispered as they broke.

“I fucked up big. Promised the team something I couldn’t keep and now we’re losing,” Rainbow replied.

Twi wrapped her arms around Rainbow’s back and pulled her in close. The girl smelled of sweat and BO, just like she was used to. Rainbow couldn’t help herself, she squeezed Twi back, harder than she meant to.

“This isn’t about soccer, is it?” Twi asked.

“... No.”

“Rainbow… I miss them too. But, even if tomorrow is the last time I’ll ever see them, I can move on.”

“How?”

Twi pulled back so she could look Rainbow in the eye. “Because, I still have you.”

Rainbow chuckled a little at that before she placed a hand on Twi’s chin and went in for a kiss. She simply pressed her lips to Twi’s, embracing each other.

When they broke, she smiled. “And you always will.”

“Now, last time I checked my girlfriend was a winner. Are you going to prove me wrong?”

“Never.”

“Promise?” Twi asked.

“Pinkie promise. And no one breaks a pinkie promise,” Rainbow said with a grin.

“Then get back out there and win, for me.”

Rainbow smiled as she watched Twi walk back out to retake her spot. The tall girl took one long breath before she knew what she needed to do. Turning around, she went into the locker room to see that Spitfire and the team were already in the middle of a discussion about the second half.

The team captain paused as she saw Rainbow walk in. “Well, rookie?”

“I think… you were right, captain. Me and Misty should switch spots.”

“Glad you could see it my way. Alright, for the second half…”

Rainbow grinned as her mind started to play through Spitfire’s plan. She laughed at how simplistic it was; but with the way the opposing team had played the first, it’d work. It’d work like a champ. And for once, she didn’t care about not being the star, after all, she had promised Twi they’d win, and she wasn’t about to break any promise made to the girl she loved.

Rainbow’s grin increased even more when they retook the field and she saw the look of confusion on the other team’s faces. As her team lost the initial coin flip, they got to start the second half with the ball. Misty kicked it to Rainbow who proceed to immediately run it straight froward. She dodged the other team’s center and was then immediately pressed upon by the same three on one tactic that had worked so well in the first.

She grinned and kicked it straight back, right into the waiting feet of Misty Fly. The girl smiled and kicked it over to Surprise who had a clear shot to the goal now.

In the first twenty seconds of the second half, the Wonderbolts scored their second point of the game, tying it up.

Rainbow grinned as she spoke to one of her opponents. “Uh oh, looks like that trick won’t work anymore.”

The other girl grunted her displeasure and the game continued.

The opposing team adapted quick enough to the Wonderbolt’s new strategy; however, their obvious advantage was gone. Rainbow found it strange playing second fiddle to Misty Fly, but she quickly grew into the role. She could almost hear Twi’s lecture now, The team wins and loses, not the player. Hell, it was the same thing she had told Twilight last week.

In the final two minutes, the score was tied three to three. Misty ran up beside Rainbow and clasped her on the shoulder as Spitfire caught another goal. “Way to recover, Rainbow. But let’s say we remind them why they were so afraid of you to begin with.”

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Fuck yeah,” Misty replied, smiling.

Rainbow grinned back as the ball made its way back up field and was kicked to an open Fleetfoot.

Fleetfoot made it five yards before her opposite number ran up to counter her. The girl kicked it across field to Surprise, who recovered nicely and started trudging up as far as she could. Rainbow gave all the tell-tale signs of supporting Misty as the two ran to the edge of their opponent’s goal box. When the defenders took their eyes off her for just a second, she bolted to the edge, giving herself an open goal.

Fleetfoot saw it, and in the span of a second, kicked the ball over to Rainbow who power-kicked it into the goal. Scoring the game-winning point right as the whistle blew.

“Fuck yes!” Rainbow shouted in joy. Only for Fleetfoot, Surprise, and Misty to run over to her and pick her up.

“Go Rainbow!” They all shouted as they carried her in the air for a few moments before putting her down.

She could see the disappointment in the other team, the joy on her teammate's faces, and the pure adulation she felt at her team having won. And more importantly, at keeping her promise to Twi.

However, when she looked over at the girl’s spot, she wasn’t there.

Rainbow got down and tried forcing her way through a cheering crowd of teammates and fans, looking for where the girl walked off to, and hoping that she didn’t miss that last goal. That she didn’t miss her keeping her promise.

Almost as if Moses was parting the red sea, the crowd just seemed to open up, only to reveal a short girl with dark-blue, pink, and purple hair, clothed in a dress that would be right at home on any catwalk around the world. She was smiling at Rainbow.

Rainbow ran up and wrapped Twi in a huge hug. She spun her around twice and brought her in for a long-deep kiss.

When she put Twi down, the girl had a smile on her face almost as big as Rainbow’s. “You won Rainbow.”

“Yeah, we did. But that’s not why I’m smiling.”

“Oh, why’s that?” Twi asked with a blush.

“Because, more important than winning, I kept my promise to you.”

Twi kissed her again. “I never doubted you would.”

“And you never should,” Rainbow said as she grasped Twi by the hand and they started walking back to the dorm room.

“Hey, rookie, where you going?” Spitfire called out, “The party’s this way!”

“Sorry, I’ve got something more important to do!” Rainbow replied.

Spitfire smiled as she watched the two leave. Thanks Twi, and you too, Twilight. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Rainbow ran back to the room as quickly as she could. She had to leave Twi for as long as it took her to take a quick shower, but the girl had been insistent on it. She said she wanted Rainbow clean before they got to the real fun stuff. So, with much reluctance, Rainbow consented and ran to the bathroom.

It was a juggling act. She wanted to be clean, but she also wanted to hurry the hell up. After she figured that just enough time had passed to get clean, she quickly dried off with the towel Twi had made sure she didn’t forget this time and ran back to her room. The hallway was largely empty as most of the girls went to the after party.

Her jaw dropped when she walked back into the room. Twi lay on the bed, her head resting on the pillows, and her knees bent ever so slightly. The girl was dressed in the silk lingerie that Rarity had made for her. Her ample bosom almost poured into the lavender and purple shaded colors, the small embroidery of Rainbow’s tattoo on the left cup. Almost as if it were saying ‘this is yours, Rainbow’.

Her silken bikini cut panties hid nothing and everything all at once. Rainbow could clearly make out the girl’s slit through the fabric of the cloth, and yet, that only made her want it more.

“There’s my winner,” Twi stated with a smile.

Rainbow grinned. “Are you my prize?”

“I’m yours, Rainbow. Not a prize. I just figured I could give you something nice.”

Rainbow practically leapt into bed, causing Twi to laugh when she started to pepper the girl with kisses. Her hands running up and down Twi’s bare skin, and yet… they paused as soon as they felt the fabric of the bra she was wearing.

Twi stopped laughing when Rainbow’s hands stopped moving. “Rainbow? What’s wrong?”

Rainbow closed her eyes and smiled. As her head lowered, her freshly-washed hair fell in Twi’s face. “I… I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but…”

“But what?” Twi asked as she brushed Rainbow’s hair back to look her in the face. “Anything you want, Rainbow.”

“For tonight… can… can I just hold you?”

Twi’s jaw nearly dropped before she caught herself. “No sex? Really?”

“Really.”

“Is something wrong?” Twi asked, worried.

“No… I just… I…”

Twi’s heart felt like it stopped in her chest as she saw a small amount of what her brother might call ‘liquid pride’ build up in Rainbow’s eyes. She raised the girl’s head and looked her in the eye once more. “Sure, anything you want.”

Rainbow pressed her face up against Twi’s palm and cooed softly at the touch. She rolled off the girl and positioned herself slightly better so she might be more comfortable when she fell asleep. Twi smiled as she crawled up the bed and hit the timer for the lights. She then moved down to Rainbow who opened her arms in an invitation for the girl to take her spot. Twi swooned as she pressed herself to Rainbow’s nude body. Rainbow wrapped Twi up in an arm and used the other to cover them both with the blanket before it came to a rest on the girl’s back.

Twi rested her head on Rainbow’s chest, enjoying the soft rhythmic beating of Rainbow’s heart pumping away in her chest. Rainbow began lightly stroking the girl’s hair in a soothing fashion as the two held each other.

The lights went out after five minutes. And still, neither of them said a word to each other. Rainbow felt like her heart wanted to burst open, to just release everything she felt, to try and find the magical words that would let Twi understand half of what she meant to her. Yet, every time she went to speak, the words just seemed… inadequate to the task.

She gave up trying, she simply let her actions speak for themselves as her hands came to rest on the girl’s bare skin. With her hands on the girl’s back and words proving inadequate to the task, Rainbow waited for Twi to give all the tell-tale signs of being asleep.

That moment came soon enough. She felt Twi’s breathing slow into a nice, steady rhythm. Her heart was slowing down, and her body was no longer moving. It was then, when there was no risk of her words being wrong, or inadequate, that Rainbow felt safe enough to spill her heart in a way she was physically unable to the girl when she was awake.

“I wish I knew how to say this when you were awake, but… from the moment you came into my life, Twi, you’ve been my life. Honestly, when I look back, I wonder how I lived without you. My life before I met you feels so hollow to me, so empty. With your help, because of you, I achieved my dreams, I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do, everything I sought out to do. And now that I have, I realize how little all of it actually means to me. I got everything I wanted, yet, if tomorrow they said I was off the team, that I was going to be kicked out of school and forced to live in box, It wouldn’t matter to me.”

She felt a tear fall down her face.

“It wouldn't matter because none of it means a damn to me anymore. You’re the most important thing in my life, Twilight Sparkle. As long as I have you, the rest is meaningless. You’re my starlight in the night sky and I love you with all my heart.”

More tears started to fall freely from her face, and she found that she just didn’t care.

“I love you too, my Rainbow,” Twi softly mumbled.

Rainbow’s tears stopped for a second as she was in shock, before she relaxed and smiled. “My egghead.”

“My featherbrain,” Twi said back, burying her head deeper into Rainbow’s chest. Rainbow returned the favor as she pressed her head into the top of Twi’s hair.

“You were awake the whole time?”

“I heard everything,” Twi gently whispered.

Rainbow expected to be offended, to be ashamed about spilling her heart like that, but she wasn’t. She was… proud she had. “Then I hope you hear my next words. You are my family, and the other two grew into it as well. I want us to be together more and not just have it end tomorrow,” she smiled before adding in a whisper. “And always remember, you’re the girl that will be my wife.”

Together the two kept holding each other, letting the hours of the night slip away as they fought off sleep for as long as they could. It was as if sleep stole their time away from each other, something neither of them wanted. They both wanted this moment to simply continue on, forevermore.

Sadly, the sandman’s call is indomitable and not even two lovers can resist it forever. They fell asleep just like that. held in each other’s arms.

A loud bang woke the two girls from their slumber as the stagnant air rapidly compressed, and just as quickly, expanded when two ponies appeared from nowhere in the middle of the room.

Rainbow and Twi’s head shot up, blinking sleep from their eyes as they saw two very excited ponies appear directly at the edge of their bed.

“What the…” Rainbow started before Twilight hopped excitedly onto the bed.

“We found it! We found it!” She squealed and bounced before Dash jumped up and pulled her back into her wings.

“Heh, sorry for that. Since we found that sword, she’s full of energy and more than excited,” the pegasus explained.

“Sword?” Twi asked sleepily.

“Yeah, it was some kind of sword-like object buried under Stonehenge. It seemed to be very powerful but it was almost as if its power was locked away, waiting for something.”

“Wait… what?” Twi asked, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.

Twilight's eyes went wide as she saw the lingerie the girl was wearing. “Wow, you do look good in that.”

“Flattering, but how about you explain everything?” Twi replied as Dash took her look in as well and started to practically purr.

Before she could, another pop was heard in the room. Twilight, Rainbow, Twi, and Dash all turned to see a magical portal open up at the edge of room. It appeared to all of them to be about the size of a full-length mirror.

“Is this what I think it is?” Twi asked.

“It is…” Twilight replied, hesitating as she saw the look on Rainbow’s face.

“What? It’s not even seven yet! You can’t leave!”

“Rainbow, I’m sorry, but this is our way home,” Twilight said as a tear made it’s way down her muzzle.

Dash looked back to the portal, and then to Twilight. “We… I… Uh…”

Twi put her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. The taller girl looked back at Twi, her face almost in tears. Twi cocked the same smile Rainbow would right at the girl. Rainbow closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t want them to go, but she also knew they had to.

“The portal won’t stay open for long, so we don’t have time for long goodbyes,” Twilight said through tears. “I promise you two again, that I will try everything possible to find a way that we can visit you.”

“Pinkie promise?” Rainbow asked with the hint of a smile.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” both ponies said.

Rainbow smiled at that before remembering something. She quickly crawled out of bed and went to retrieve several items from their stash of toys. “Dash, quick second.”

“Make it quick,” Twilight replied as Dash ran over to the girl. Rainbow passed her several items in a bag she wanted the pegasus to keep.

“Really?” Dash asked as she stuck them under her wing for safe keeping.

“Yes, oh, and some last minute advice. That mare over there, she’s more important than looking cool, she’s more important than your reputation, your hopes, your dreams, and even your life. Treat her right, keep her safe, and you’ll find that she’s the greatest treasure you could ever hope for.”

Dash looked at Twilight and then back at herself. “Really? I mean not eve—”

“Not even that, whatever it is; trust me on this, trust yourself on this.”

Dash smiled. “Okay, I can’t really argue with myself.”

“Dash, we really have to go, I don’t know how long the others can keep the portal open!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Wait, Twilight,” Twi stopped her dead in her tracks.

Twilight turned to her human self. “What?”

“Just some parting notes for you to take,” The girl replied as she got out of bed and went to her locker. She had spent most of her free time yesterday in the library trying to figure out what to say when and if this would happen. But it was simply too much to try and say in a quick speech, so she wrote them down instead. She passed Twilight the notebook full of annotations on how best to deal with Dash given any specific situation.

Twilight's eyes went wide as she quickly flipped through the pages. “Really, all this?”

“I’m sure they’ll come in handy.” Twi chuckled.

“Thanks,” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.

“Look, basically it can be summarized into this: pick your battles. There’s going to be too much to fight over, and you’ll find most of it doesn’t matter, so why fight at all? She is who she is and even if it does sometimes get annoying, it’s not like you’d want to change that.”

“Of course not.”

“So don’t try. Call her out on the really stupid, offensive, and hurtful stuff; but other than that, let her be herself. She’ll know when you’re right and she’s wrong, even if she won't admit it right away.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said with a smile as she joined Dash by the portal.

“We’ll miss you, both of you.” Twi and Rainbow said at the same time.

“Likewise,” the ponies replied before looking each other into the eyes. “Ready when you are.”

Twilight smiled as Dash put a wing around her back, together they walked through the portal. It only took a second before they were gone, gone out of Twi and Rainbow’s world.

The two paused and stared at each other. Rainbow closed her eyes and sighed. In truth, she was surprised at how she felt. She had expected—after yesterday’s waterworks—that this would hurt more. It still hurt, but… it seemed almost surreal right now. It had happened so quickly... “I can’t believe that they’re really gone.” She paused. “I wanted them to find a way home, I know they needed to and all that, but... but another part of me wished they wouldn’t and that they’d stay with us, forever.”

“I’d be lying if I said that I thought different,” Twi replied as she went to hug her girlfriend. However, before she got there, she paused when she noticed something odd.

“It didn’t close?”

Rainbow blinked and turned to the portal. “You’re right, it’s still here. I thought it would close as soon as they went through.”

“Me too…” Twi said, puzzled. “I’m sure it will, eventually.”

A strange flash of light momentarily blinded the two girls. It was like a flash of white that just covered the room. They both blinked their eyes clear, assuming it was nothing more than a side effect of the portal.

“Well…” Rainbow said as she absentmindedly walked over to her closet to get dressed.

“What are you doing?” Twi asked, shocked that Rainbow would so willingly put on clothes, but oddly, having a desire to do the same.

“Did you ever ask yourself what their world was like. I mean, pastel colors everywhere, small little ponies running around that can fly and use magic, and even control the weather?”

“Rainbow, I think it’s a little too late to find out now,” Twi stated as she—strangely—moved to get dressed as well.

“Is it?” Rainbow asked with a grin.

“What are you getting at, following them or something?” Twi looked terrified, but curious, at the idea.

“Maybe, maybe not,” the tall girl chuckled.

Twi looked between Rainbow and the portal. “Are you sure that we can just... follow them?”

“I don’t know, but if you ask me, it’s worth a try.” Rainbow’s grin was practically ear to ear.

Twi chuckled as she put on a shirt and skirt over her bra and panties, part of her felt weird wearing so many clothes after the last few days. However, right that second, it just seemed like she should, and she couldn’t think of any reason not to. “It’s a nice thought, Rainbow. But we can’t.”

“Why not?” Rainbow asked.

Twi looked over to the portal, hoping it’d just close and answer her question for her. “Rainbow, we… I… You’ve got soccer, I have a job.”

“They opened it once, I’m sure they can do it again.”

“Rainbow…”

“Twi, when we’re turning eighty together in some nursing home, me unable to walk, you with sagging tits, do you really want to look back at this moment and think, ‘what if?’”

“That’s ridiculous to even think of,” Twi huffed in response. But couldn’t turn her eyes away from the still open portal. There were a million upon a million reasons not to do it, not to go through, and yet… yet, right that second, she couldn’t hold onto a single one long enough to form a coherent argument against it.

Rainbow grinned and held out her hand for Twi to take. “So, one more stupid thing, together?” she asked with a smile.

Twi reached her hand out, hesitantly, with clear reservations, but put it in Rainbow’s nevertheless. “Let’s see how the other world looks, together,” she smiled. “But if you ever quote Transformers to me again, I swear to Christ…” Her voice trailed off as, together, they went to see what was beyond the looking glass.

As soon as the portal enveloped their bodies, they were gone from their world into a strange new one that neither they, or Equestria itself, were ready for….

...

...

...

The still air inside of the empty room grew cold as the portal gave off its final flickers, its magic draining to nothing. A low, cackling laughter soon filled the air. “Well, this should certainly liven things up around here. Equestria could use just a little more chaos.” With a low pop the portal disappeared, leaving nothing but an empty dorm and a slow echoing laughter, before it too, faded into nothing.

Author's Notes:

Leave it to Discord to screw everything up!

Or make it better, all depending on your point of view.

Well, we've reached the end, our two little ponies found their way home, along with two... unexpected guests. When they return to Equestria it shall ignite a shitstorm the likes of which the land has never seen. But, that's for the sequel.

For now there's just so many people I want to thank. Everyone from my co-writer ScratchnTavi to all of my editors, and proofreaders that helped me from my blog posts. All of you took times out of your lives to help this story be the best it can be and I can never say thank you enough.

To all the fans, thank you for following this story and making it as liked as it was. In my time here, I never imagined I'd have a story that not only made the feature box every single week, but had 1,100 likes as well! Both those facts blew my mind.

What am I going to be doing next? For starters I plan to return to my Twilight is Magic universe with two small stories and one big one planned, which will possibly put that story line to bed. Then, I'll be back here with Beyond the Looking Glass. Detailing our horny girls and ponies bringing same-sex relationships (back?) to Equestria. In addition, you might see other 'bonus' chapters for this story that may pop up every now and again. Either picking up with Twi and Rainbow in odd situations, or detailing events from another perspective. That being said, if you have a request, feel free to list it down below.

So if you follow TiM I'll see you soon on that story. Otherwise, I hope you'll come back for the sequel to this work that I plan to start sometime in Dec-Jan.

I shall leave you with a story about this story. I wrote this story for myself. Literally, for myself. It never was supposed to see the light of day on this site. It was my story, for me. I had fun every step of the way, writing seven chapters before a single one was ever posted.

Why did I post it? Good question, you see I started to bring on editors to help me make it better, and my co-writer to keep me motivated. After three chapters of them helping out, I felt like by not posting it, I wasn't giving them the credit they deserved. As such I pretty much blackmailed myself into posting it in order to give them recognition for their work on it.

I posted it and did something I had not done in almost a year and a half from this site. I logged out and didn't log back in for four days. Wow... did I miss out. lol.

It goes to show... well, I'm not sure what it shows tbh. I'm sure there is a lesson to be learned somewhere, but I'll be damned if I know it.

Until next time,
TwiDashforever!

On a side note, in a totally hypothetical question. How much do you think it'd cost to commission this story (condensed, of course) as a comic and who would I go to for that?