Shipping, Do You Speak It?

by Nightsky Rain

Part 4 - The Trouble With Eavesdropping (Side A)

The private chambers of the Princess of the night barely bore describing, as they always seemed to be described roughly the same way. Dark, heavy curtains to block out the daylight, an easel and art supplies, numerous books, an abacus, a wardrobe left partially open to reveal it contained nothing but socks.

But that would be lazy. In finer point, the layout of the room was quite different to Celestia's and the atmosphere even more so, and not just for the lack of light. The bed for example was clearly made by the same hooves at the same time, but showed far less incidental wear, evident it hadn't been in use nearly as long. It also featured dark gossamer privacy curtains which looked to have been closed, and only temporarily parted.

It was positioned much deeper in the room, toward the furthest corner from the door. The heavily encumbered reading desk in the room was positioned near to it along the wall, with the painting area opposing it partway into the room - the three forming an obvious "enclosed space" in that far corner. By contrast, the dressing table where she would attend her appearance before leaving the room was close to the door, almost like an after-thought.

Her regalia was still laid out on a rack built just for the purpose not far from the bed, no small surprise as Luna would normally be sleeping right now. Instead, she presently sat on her haunches further toward the center of the room with her older sister, who stood just in front of her.

The scale of the change in Celestia's appearance was that much more obvious as a result. Her mane and tail being solid, regular hair of pastel pink was easy to discern. That she clearly stood no taller or older looking than Twilight Sparkle at this point was finely highlighted against the almost towering stature of her younger sister, even if the night Princess was slouching tiredly.

The dark Alicorn's eyes and horn glowed with a dull intensity, as a sleeve of her deep blue magic enshrouded the Princess of the day. Luna bore an analytic and mildly curious expression, tempered by fatigue and some slight annoyance at being woken up in the first place. After a few moments, the magical shroud dissipates and the glow fades from the younger sister's horns and eyes. She gives a small shake of her head, and then a more casual shrug of her shoulders.

“Tis thy own magic, sister. Thou hast done this to thyself” she finally reports, gesturing a hoof toward her sister.

Celestia gives a responsive shake of her head with a plain look of confusion. “But it can't be. It happened while I was asleep. Why would I do this to myself in the first place?”

The younger Alicorn gives another shrug of her shoulders and offers a playful look. “Perhaps thou hast become self-conscious of thy age? Tis not thine mind to know, sister”.

“That isn't funny, Lulu” the white Alicorn retorts indignantly, sitting back on her haunches and crossing her forelegs, glancing off to the side.

The Princess of the night submits a gentle sigh, taking instead a thoughtful approach. “Tia, thou hast always bottled up thy true feelings for the sake of thy image. Perhaps thy feelings hath finally found outlet”.

“What...?” the elder sister turns her gaze back to the other Alicorn, puzzled at first, but the words seemed to sink in after a few moments. “You believe I did this subconsciously, for a reason?”

Luna returns a slow nod. “Study thy own mind, sister. Thy own heart. The cause doth surely lie within”.

The white Alicorn can't help but smile to this, thoughtfully, but also playfully. “I suppose you are the poetic one for a reason. Though I wonder how long that will last now that you shall have to take on my duties”.

The Princess of the night continued to nod in agreement, right up until she actually took note what Celestia had just said. The way she went rigid and her eyes open widely suggested “panic”. “S-surely thou jest!?”

“Thou does not” the older sister returns with a satisfied smirk. “I can't very well hold court looking like this. Or entertain dignitaries, attend society matters, take council...”

Each item added to the list seemed to drive the dark Alicorn further into dread.

“...and obviously, as I will not be the one performing these duties, I can hardly do the paperwork” the white Alicorn continues, placing her hooves on her hips and giving a sage nod. “No, I'm afraid you'll have to take over my duties until this situation is resolved”.

When the Princess of the day opened her eyes once more, she found her younger sister cowering on the floor with her hooves crossed over her head. The imitation of Fluttershy was impeccable, at least.

---

Morning slowly marched toward midday, and the journey of a pair of unlikely traveling companions had finally come to a pause. A Pony and a Griffon sat on opposing ends and sides of a weathered table, in the small outside dining area of an old inn along the road between Fillydelphia and Ponyville.

Octavia sat with her cello case lent against the table to her side, quietly eating a sand-which she held with either hoof in small, measured bites. She sat upright and back from the table so as not to rest her elbows on it, kept her mouth closed as she ate, and consistently kept her eyes on her meal. Occasionally she would pause to take a sip of the tea sitting beside her plate, but only after carefully chewing and swallowing whatever was in her mouth first.

Gilda, by stark contrast, may as well have been laying on the table directly. Although some argument might be made that a table built for ponies was a bit too short for her, one imagined this actually had little to do with it. She slouched over so far her chest pressed against the table's edge while her front legs virtually encircled the plate of hayfries before her, which she ate with both clawed paws in alternation, sporadically going for her fruit-smoothie with whichever one wasn't clutching food at that particular moment.

It was almost a wonder where she was finding time to breathe.

"So like", the Griffon begins through a visible mouthful of food, "you were saying...you weren't always in that fancy bad or whatever?".

The grey Earth Pony resisted the urge to cringe, taking a moment to properly chew and swallow her food before clearing her throat. "There was some measure of delay between being in the school band and the Ponyville Quartet, yes".

The subtle sarcasm was evidently, but unsurprisingly lost on the Griffon, who simply nods along to the response casually. "So you did something else first? You said you like, made this trip before or something".

A very slight frown creases the mare's brow momentarily, setting her sand-which down, but keeping her civil tone. "After school I had not yet decided what, precisely, I wanted to do with my special talent", she raises her vision to meet the Griffon's eye, but upon sight of her chewing with her mouth open, closes them again with a faint cringe.

"...I traveled often, to gain a greater idea of the possibilities" the pony continues, staring a hole in her sand-which. "There was some...encouragement...that I should seek a place in the Royal Canterlot Orchestra, but-"

"Parents, huh" Gilda abruptly interjects, albeit casually and with no apparent notice of the interruption. She submits a knowing nod, "yeah I know what that's like. If they think you're anything special suddenly your life is theirs to throw around".

The griffon flips the fringe of feathers that always hung in her face with a contempt pfft. "All Griffon parents are like that, 'cuz we're rare or whatever. Expect you to be something. The something being whatever they pick".

Octavia's initial aggravation weakened at this, taking a more receptive look as she raised her vision to meet the griffon once again. Gilda was looking elsewhere now, with narrowed eyes and contempt.

"It's all these grades make a mockery of your heritage and the only friends you should be making are the important and the elite"

The griffon gives another contempt pfft with a flip of her head, "'cuz you know, having fun and friends you can actually stand talking to is totally not for Griffons. No, we're all a thousand years ago we were important and you're not going to forget it. It's not like time moves on or anything".

Gilda finally seems to ease back from the growing frustration, but only to give a defeated sigh as her attention turns back to the food in front of her. She half-mutters under her breathe, "whatever..."

---

Dash had stared at the door to Trixie's house so long at this point she could see its design and the pattern in the wood every time she blinked. The cyan Pegasus wore an expression that spoke of no confidence or certainty, which went a ways to explaining why she was having a staring contest she couldn't win.

No matter how long she thought about it, only so many ways to explain what had happened the day before came to the rainbow maned mare, and too many of them involved puppets or a defensible position to be tenable. Of the handful she'd come up with that could be carried out with naught but the wings on her back, most of those involved using them to escape at some point.

It's not like Trixie can launch me across Ponyville, at least... the Pegasus muses to herself, lightly biting her lower lip. I mean, all the stuff she can do is like...pranks. The worse thing she could do is turn me green or something...

Dash's head is dragged down with a weak sigh under the weight of building apprehension and a dark self-admission. No, the worst thing she could do is tell me to clop off and never talk to me again. And I'm not so sure I don't des-

The door derailed her train of thought with spectacular efficiency as it swung open under the influence of an ice-blue magic aura.

Trixie herself blinks two or three times in surprise as she looks at the door, then steps out from it to look around the corner, taking some confusion at the sight of a dazed Rainbow Dash sprawled out on her lawn.

"...Dash?"

A groan of protest was her initial reply. The cyan mare slowly sat up, holding her head with one hoof and supporting herself with the other, waiting for the two Equestrias she could see to line up again. The Unicorn moved to stand over her, leaning her head down and inspecting the Pegasus momentarily with a hoof raised to her chin.

"Hm. Lucky you have a hard head" Trixie finally concludes with a satisfied nod, turning back to close and lock the door to her house.

The cyan mare grunted indignantly at this, climbing to her hooves. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks..."

"Of course you are" the Unicorn replies as she returns from the door, pausing to glance across at Dash with a lightly puzzled look. "Trixie would be worried about you otherwise".

...oh...good point, I guess...

A long moment of silence descended between them, with the Pegasus vacantly staring at the Unicorn in thought, and Trixie eventually developing an expectant expression.

"Trixie is aware she is quite attractive, but she does need to go to work..."

This finally snaps Dash back to reality, giving a firm shake of her head before taking a step toward the Unicorn. adopting an apologetic look. "Yeah...uh...before you go, Trix..."

The blue mare cants her head lightly, "yes?"

"I...uh..." the Pegasus pauses to rub the back of her neck with a hoof, how the hay do I say this? Why did I waste so long staring at the damn door? Why didn't I think this out better?

"Dash...?"

"Something...I need to...", the Pegasus pauses herself again, giving another clearing shake of her head, and taking a deep breath to steady herself. "There's something I need to tell you. Something about yesterday".

Trixie's composure seems to slip from calm to nervous immediately. With Dash in control of the inner-monologue, it was difficult to tell what was going through her mind, but it clearly didn't fill her with confidence.

"I did something really stupid yesterday", the cyan mare continues with her head hung low and remorse on her face. "I should have admitted to it when I had the chance, but I chickened out".

The Unicorn at this point had her eyes closed and her head turned away, bodily tensed in anticipation of bad news. The rainbow maned Pegasus similarly braces herself and closes her eyes.

"I kissed Twilight".

"NO WAY!"

One of the trees in the nearby park shudders in turn with the shocked exclamation, the interruption causing Dash and Trixie to simultaneously raise their head and look at each other. Trixie's expression bore no anger or malice, but rather relief, and surprise. This in turn left Dash's face a mask of surprise and confusion, as a long few moments of silence descend once more.

But the longer it held, the more nervous the Pegasus became, and she was forced to shake her head. "No, it's more like I tried to make out with her. I don't even know why. I didn't even think about it, it just happened..."

The cyan mare had shifted to sitting on her haunches, gesturing with her hooves. "I mean, what the hay, right? It just came out of nowhere. I regretted it in like, seconds. I felt like a complete tool. And then i saw you in the park last night and I realized I didn't come back after lunch like I said, and you offered me dinner, and I was hungry. But I really just wanted to spend some time with you again anyway and..."

A sheath of ice-blue magic clamps the Pegasus' mouth closed, to her mixed surprise and relief. She maintained a wild-eyed but apologetic look at the Unicorn as she walked over to her, putting her hoof in place of her magic momentarily as she releases it.

"Just tell Trixie she was better"

The blue mare's hoof moved out of the way, and Rainbow was left even more confused. It takes a moment and an impatient frown from the Unicorn, but she finally gives a slow nod.

"Well...I mean, yeah...you were"

Trixie gives a sage nod in return, "then you're forgiven".

The Pegasus suddenly found herself very light-headed and staring at grass. Not to mention tasting grass, and feeling her face buried in it. She shifted her head to see a pair of familiar blue hooves, and finally rolled over onto her back to see Trixie standing over, leaning down, and wearing a rather amused look.

"Did the great Rainbow Dash really just faint?"

The cyan mare's face heated up. "What? No way! I don't...I-"

Trixie lent down further and set a gentle, if inverted kiss to Rainbow's lips, which the Pegasus was only too happy to return. She raised a hoof to tuck around the back of the Unicorn's back and pulled her a little more deeply into it, earning an approving murmur from the blue mare.

It only lasted a few moments until the Unicorn broke it, but the cyan Pegasus felt all the pent up anxiety, fear, and doubt dissolve against the sensation, and the taste of spearmint toothpaste. The slightly smug tone to Trixie's satisfied look as she pulled back from it somehow just completed it.

"Okay...you definitely won that one"

---

As she watched Trixie walk on toward work, Rainbow Dash could almost swear she had become lighter. It wasn't simply a side-effect of hovering as she was, briefly off the ground - it felt like it took even less effort than normal to do so, like she'd keep hovering if she stopped flapping her wings. Not that she was dumb enough to try it.

The great sense of relief was amplified by something else the Pegasus didn't know the name of. It was like peace mixed with content, and itself brought forth a sense of optimism. She still knew she had the situation with Twilight to resolve yet, but for the first time since it all began, she actually felt like it would work out.

The positive mindset was clearing, clarifying. She remembered, and was now only more determined, that Trixie had to be reintroduced to her friends. Her initial thoughts on how to go about this, she now realized, were comparable to well-intended pranks. That wasn't the way to go about this.

Now more than before, she wanted her friends to welcome the Unicorn back, despite her colored past in Ponyville. She had an opportunity for something here. She wasn't sure what it was yet, it was too early, too new, but it was there. And it still would be, as long as she played her cards right.

The rainbow-maned one was so consumed by this painfully sweet, starry-eyed budding romance nonsense that she didn't register the other Pony coming strait at her. She realized the on-coming collision just in time to submit an embarrassingly timid squeak and duck under the cover of her hooves, as the other pony sailed clean over her head.

By the time she heard the heavy clop and scuffle of their hooves hitting the ground on the other side of herself, and she had spun to face them with snap-annoyance, she found the other Pony already a surprising distance up the street in an unbroken gallop.

Woah...fast...

An excited smirk spread across the cyan mare's features.

Really fast. You're on!

The unspoken and likely unintended challenge had been accepted. Before anypony could say "predictable", Rainbow Dash had taken flight and was chasing down the other Pony with purpose. Even if it was a purpose only Dash herself could see.

Nothing was allowed to go fast in Ponyville without being tested against the best flier in Equestria. It was a law of the land Celestia just hadn't thought to write down, and that would change if Dash had her way.

It didn't take the cyan mare long to catch up to her quarry - even if she hadn't set off at a reckless but entirely characteristic speed, the other Pony was difficult to miss. It was another Pegasus, a mare, with about the weirdest coat Dash had ever seen.

An uneven mass of mid and dark blue whose only consistency was being darker at her back and lighter as it reached her stomach, interspersed with a loose scattering of small white spots of varying opacity, giving the illusion of stars against the night. Her mane ran in the wind, predominantly a dark wine red, with a dual highlight of dark teal and ice blue, styled not entirely unlike Twilight's, but not the same either.

But the only thing about her that the cyan Pegasus really cared about was just how fast she was running. Dash had no trouble keeping pace, of course, but most Pegasi she knew didn't fly as fast as this dark mare was running. She weaved past the other Ponies and obstacles on the streets like a dark liquid streak, and rounded corners like a smooth quill writing cursive.

The rainbow maned mare flew in low and closed the gap, only now noticing the mail courier satchel slung around her shoulders trailing in the wind, the rather befitting words "Priority/Express" stitched across its flap. She was close enough now to see the wrap-around headphones on the other mare's ears and hear the fast heavy beat coming out of them.

With little thought to the inevitable consequences, the cyan one stuck a hoof out and lightly prodded the other Pegasus' side.

"Hey, I'm Rainb-!"

For the second time today, Dash came around to find herself abruptly in a different situation. Watermelon tasted better than grass, at least to Rainbow, but that didn't necessarily mean she wanted to wear it like a coat. She quickly realized a large amount of her body actually ached a bit this time, too.

As she shifted and shuffled to try and figure out where she was, the cyan mare's form dislodged and toppled out of the destroyed watermelon cart onto the cobbles of the street. She sat on her flank, rubbing her head with a hoof, covered in and surrounded by fruit debris in a daze, earning more than a few puzzled looks from passers-by.

And at least one comment about how much she must like watermelon.

The rainbow maned one had to strain for it, but the last thing she remembered was the other mare startling at the sudden jab of Dash's hoof and trying to come to an abrupt stop - the cyan mare instantly collided with her and was flung off by her own momentum. From the feeling in her ribs, she was pretty sure she skipped off the ground at least once before finding the cart.

Ugh...didn't think that through very well... Rainbow bemoans to herself, climbing to her hooves and surveying the scene about her. She's given momentary pause with a cringe at the headache she just now discovered she had, causing her to squint.

Besides the occasional passer-by rubber necking at her predicament, and the apparent owner of the cart still staring wide-eyed and mouth agape in utter bemusement at what has befallen it, the cyan mare saw no obvious sign of the other Pegasus, save for some small items on the ground her glance misses the first time.

She takes a brief and slightly awkward trot over the few feet or so to them and lowers her head to get a better look - broken pieces of plastic. The gears in the rainbow maned one's mind took a few moments to rotate into place, but she finally showed realization.

Aw hay, did her iPony get busted up?

Dash lifts her glance to look around again, but it led only to a groan of self-disapproval. The other Pegasus was nowhere to be seen.

---

“Uhh...”

The young dragon continued to back up, periodically peering behind himself to see how much more barn he had to retreat across.

“Awh c'mon, Spike! It'll be fun!” Applebloom persists in turn, continuing to move toward him.

Scootaloo, curiously dressed in a hay-stuffed cardboard approximation of fur-lined armor with a horned helmet and Sweetie Bell, levitating a puzzlingly real looking mace, were positioned a short ways behind their fellow crusader.

“I keep telling you, there's no dragon slaying cutie mark!” Spike insists nervously, rapidly looking for an escape route. “E-even if there was, you wouldn't slay me just to get one...would you!?”.

Scoots and Sweetie shared a look of momentary consideration.

“Yeah, we would”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the sight of a screaming Spike running from the barn with the crusaders in hot pursuit, but shrugs it off a moment later.

“Anyway, ah think yer jus' givin' in t'gossip like always, sugar” the Earth Pony reports with a half-attentive tone, turning her attention to the next tree in the row.

Rarity shook her head and gestured her hoof for emphasis, “no, I'm quite serious. I saw them with my own eyes. She was on a date with that mailpony Pegasus mare”.

The Unicorn's pointed emphasis on the word “mare” seems to provoke a momentary look of annoyance from the orange Pony, but she shakes it off and plants her rear hooves into the tree, making it spill forth apples into the waiting buckets below.

“Y'know, Rare” the Earth Pony begins, pausing between trees to cast a raised sideways glance at her friend, “there ain' nothin' wrong with that. Now ah' ain't sayin' I believe this gossip of yers, but even if ah did, 'far as ah'm concerned, it's Twi's choice which way her barn door swings, an' I fer one have no problem if it swings that way”.

Rarity actually seems to recoil from the insinuation with a slight frown, then raises a hoof in protest. “Oh darling, you misunderstand! I have nothing against the preference in the least. It just makes it that much more scandalous!”

The orange mare misses the next kick in exasperation at this, casting a bemused look at her friend. Neither of them seemed to notice the commotion in the background of Spike clawing his way up a tree to disappear in the foliage. The crusaders arrived a moment later, visibly trying to figure out where he went.

Applejack finally returned a vague "uh huh...", then shook her head and gave the tree a second buck, connecting this time and eliciting forth the customary appley jackpot.

The white Unicorn came back with an unsatisfied tch and a bemoaning tone, "you're simply no fun to gossip with, you know that?".

The Earth Pony showed annoyance once again, and this time responded with less patience in her tone. "Don't y'all normally gossip with Fluttershy, anyway?"

In the background, the crusaders had inherently discovered the young dragon was up the tree. Applebloom and Scootaloo were taking turns trying to buck him out of it, while Sweetie Bell cheered them on.

Rarity, meanwhile, returned an exaggerated sigh of disappointment to her friend. "Yes, but I have no idea where she is. She mentioned going to the library today, but when I arrived Twilight wasn't even there herself".

That's funny...they were here earlier pickin' up that lunch fer later... AJ muses to herself with a momentary pause. The Unicorn seems to notice the brief distraction in her friend, prompting the Earth Pony to quickly move on to the next tree.

"You know something!" the white mare observes with wide-eyed realization, immediately closing in on the other Pony with an expectant look, "oh you simply must tell me!".

"Ah must nothin' but buck trees, missy" the orange maned one retorts in annoyed defiance, shooting her friend a flat look.

The Unicorn simply turns her nose up with a huff of indignation in reply.

---

Celestia's sun rode lower in the increasingly orange sky now, as the afternoon continued its steady march toward evening. The temperature had gone down slightly with it, as the weather Pegasi worked busily overhead assembling and arranging the clouds for a rainy night.

Rainbow Dash felt slightly lame for ditching her shift, but not enough to get her up there working. The day started out unexpectedly well, but by this point she was a bit tired, still kind of sore, and had half a pizza to finish yet.

She sat at a small table on the larger balcony of the library, deeply reclined back into the chair at it with her hooves up and the pizza box sat across her lap. There were no obvious signs of life inside the library itself, but at least Dash was ideally positioned to know when the Pony who lived there got home.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the cyan mare knew she should really go to at least one of their friends for advice first. Her last attempt to apologize to that certain lavender Unicorn hadn't exactly worked out ideally, somewhere between being a bit of a flank about it and the whole oral molestation thing. But despite the day's earlier turn of events, that new turn of confidence she'd attained this morning was still there.

Things with Trixie had worked out, why wouldn't things with Twilight? Okay, they were pretty much completely different Ponies, and they probably didn't think or see things the same way at all, but that didn't matter, right? She just had to show she was sorry, and her friend was sure to understand.

The cyan mare paused halfway through taking a bite of her pizza with a distinct look of realization, evident it had just dawned on her how unlikely it was to be quite that simple.

This thing with Trixie was brand new. It had been rushed into, in classic Rainbow Dash style, recklessly. All she really knew about the Unicorn for sure was that she was proud, but insecure, lonely, receptive to Dash's bravado, and could apparently be placated by feeding her pride. There wasn't really much to mess up there yet.

Her friendship with Twilight, on the other hoof, may have started quite suddenly, but had also been cultivated and developed over the better part of two years now, and was built on trust, loyalty, dependability, and a bunch of other things that made her shoulders feel rather heavy as she thought about it.

She didn't even know how upset Twilight actually was with her. Launching Dash halfway across Ponyville might seem less extreme than tearing the library apart, unless of course it was a message, or a warning.

Suddenly, sitting around on the balcony of the Unicorn's home eating pizza and waiting for her to come home didn't seem like such a good idea. Rainbow needed her friends' advice, or at least a better idea just how bad it was. If she was going to fix this one, she had to do it right.

---

Rarity's like, the biggest gossip in Ponyville, hooves down. She's gotta know something...

Rainbow Dash landed briefly back from the boutique and took a steadying breath, consciously replacing her previously determined expression with a casual composure, albeit coming off just a little forced. She never claimed to be a good actor.

The white Unicorn responded to the tingle of the bell as her door opened with typical good grace and poise. A sing-song toned "Just a mo-ment!" coming from the rear of the shop, immediately before a short sequence of muffled crashes and venomous expletives, no evidence of which remained in the dapper mare by the time she emerged in the store-front proper.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash!" she greets warmly, "how are you darling? Is there something I can help you with?".

"Nah, I'm cool..." the Pegasus returns, internally cringing at how hollow that rang right now. "Well, maybe you can, actually"

"Oh?" the Unicorn piques with interest, "have you finally realized how much you need a nice dress?"

"Actually-"

"I know hats don't really work for you, with the way you fly" the white mare continues, crossing the shop-floor to her friend and inspecting her from side to side analytically, before proceeding to a wall lined with odds and ends. "But I did have some ideas for accessories that would hold up, if you tone it down just a teensy bit..."

The cyan one by this point was slowly and repeatedly facehoofing.

"Oh but really, we should do something with your mane first" the Rarity train goes on, her magic pulling out and levitating a fashion magazine which she brings back to her friend, starting to flip pages and point with her hoof. "This perhaps, or something like that...hm, if you didn't fly so quickly all the time, you could try-"

"Rarity!"

The Unicorn startles into falling on her flank, staring at her friend in surprise. The Pegasus takes a deep breath in turn, gesturing with a hoof.

"I really just wanted to know if you knew anything about Twi" Dash explains, fidgeting a little as she looks off to the side. "I kind of made her mad yesterday. Really mad, i think. I just don't know how much..."

Rarity frowns momentarily, but seems to perceive how troubled her friend is, and adopts a softened tone. "I'm not sure how much help I can be, darling. I know Twilight was on a date yesterday, but I haven't spoken to her myself. Applejack...may know something, but she isn't saying".

The Pegasus goes to respond, but pauses as she notices the white mare looking away in pensive deliberation.

"..I certainly wouldn't ask Fluttershy, however" she hesitantly concludes, only now turning her gaze back to her friend. She offers a thoughtful look, but it was curiously underwritten with some concern.

The cyan one visibly ponders over this for a long moment with a skeptical look, but finally lifts her gaze from the floor to offer a smile. "Thanks Rare. I'll head over that way now".

With that, the Pegasus calmly made her way out the door and back outside, taking to the air and aiming in the vague direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack is like, Twilight's best friend out of us. Why didn't I think of her first?

Ponyville rolled on below, but the Pegasus paid no mind of it from the afternoon sky. The flight to her destination was a relatively short one, even without the benefit of the speeds she can get up to, but her ribs still hurt a bit, a memento of an earlier lack of forethought today.

But Fluttershy? the cyan one furrowed her brow in confusion. What would she know? Those two like, never hang out. I don't think they even talk much...

Her mind flashes back to her friend's hesitation. Rare knows that. Why would she even mention Shy? It doesn't make any sense...

The orchard had loomed into view already, not that it was easy to miss. The farm stood largely silent as far as the Pegasus could see, save for what looked from this distance to be Big Mac emptying out the barn. Something along the track between Ponyville and the farm caught Dash's eye first, though, prompting her to fly in low.

The cyan mare came in to a hover nearby the pink Earth Pony as she sat on the long fence-rail, idly kicking her hooves and letting the breeze run through her mane. She almost seemed...peaceful, for once.

It was a little disturbing.

"Hey, Pinks, what's up? Taking a break from the hunt?" the Pegasus inquires.

"Heya Dashie!" the pink one greets, bringing up both hooves in an exaggerated cheer motion that nearly makes her fall off the fence backward, but curiously she relaxes again afterward.

"I decided to just throw one big super duper crazy party later" she goes on to explain cheerfully, although oddly calmly. "That way I'll get 'em all at once".

Dash found herself a bit put off by the Earth Pony's behavior, but shrugs it off. "Good idea, Pinks. So whacha up to out here then?"

"Waiting, silly" the other mare returns rather simply, to the cyan one's no greater understanding.

"Uh...waiting for what?" Rainbow wonders aloud, lifting her head to take a look around, only to confirm there was nothing to see.

"Waiting for it to be my turn, duh!" Pinky replies with a bubbly giggle, "it's just how these things work. Can't do it alllll at the same time. It would be too hard to follow".

The cyan mare found herself simply staring at her friend at a total loss what she could possibly be talking about. But having long since learned about the infrequency of Pinkie Pie and making sense coinciding, decides it best to just leave it there.

"Well, uh..good luck with that, Pinkie"

Thoroughly confused by her encounter with Pinkie Pie, but no less determined, Rainbow Dash flew on the rest of the way to Sweet Apple Acres in short order and headed directly for the barn. Within a moment or two of landing outside it, the large red stallion emerged, offering a polite nod of his head in greeting.

"Hey, Mac" the cyan mare greets in turn, turning her head to look around, "Is AJ around?"

"Eeeeyup" came the simple and predictable response.

The Pegasus should have seen it coming by now, but somehow nopony ever seemed to learn the lesson. One could only assume the stallion had, though - after a moment, he adds a gesture with his head toward an open shed not far away.

"Thanks" Rainbow returns quickly as she trots off in the indicated direction. The small structure in question had seen better days, evidently one of the things the Apple family hadn't got around to replacing yet. And sure enough, Applejack was to be found within.

The orange mare doesn't seem to notice her friend at first, not the least presumably because she was facing the wrong way - her attention largely invested in comparing a small map of the orchards on a hay-bale in front of her to a much larger and older one attached to the wall of the shed, with visible concentration and regular self-muttering.

"Not now, Rainbow Dash" the Earth Pony half-mumbles inattentively the instant the Pegasus opens her mouth. "Ah ain't got th' time now or th' patience besides".

The cyan one blinks once or twice in visible confusion, pulling her head back slightly as an annoyed look finds its way into her features. "Whaddya mean?"

AJ hangs her head for a long moment with a deep sigh of disapproval, then shakes it off and resumes her concentration, and short tone to match.

"Ah mean does it look like ah've got free time comin' out mah ear right now?" she furthers. A closer glance at the smaller map of the orchard she was comparing to the larger, older one showed it was veritably covered in mathematical calculations following some sort of drawn out path through the trees.

The rainbow maned one found it utterly indecipherable, and difficult to believe the apple farmer apparently didn't, as she at least seemed to know how it applied to the larger map, though it was clearly straining her.

"I guess not" Dash concedes, lifting a hoof to rub the side of her neck awkwardly. "I was just wondering if you-"

"C'mon now, Rainbow" the orange one interjects, casting an almost pleading look across at her friend, "y'all know ah'd help ya'n a hoofbeat if ah could, but ah jus' cain't right now".

Somehow even the Pegasus could tell it had rather less to do with time and more to do with the Earth Pony being unable to lie, and already knowing what she was here to ask about. The look on the apple farmer's face virtually read please don't ask.

It would be so easy to ask anyway, knowing she couldn't lie about it, that there were only so many excuses she could make before cracking. But the cyan one knew that wouldn't be fair, and the last thing she needed right now was to damage another friendship.

"Sorry, AJ" Rainbow concedes with an apologetic look, "I'll come back another time".

The orange pony submits a deep sigh of relief, and takes a tone to match. "Thank you, RD".

The Pegasus submits a nod in confirmation, then turns from the shed and takes flight once more.

---

As the sun crept ever lower and evening approached, Rainbow Dash could feel the humidity in the air rising through the dander of her wings. The rain setup by the weather Pegasi earlier wasn't all that far off now, and Dash only now noticed it was actually a storm they'd been building.

AJ was no good...but she was my best shot the cyan mare muses to herself with a discontent frown, I mean what am I meant to do, ask Derpy? That'd go down real well. Could I ask the Princess about something like this?. A mental image of Celestia becoming furious and launching the Pegasus at the moon flashes through her mind, causing Dash to shiver. Yeah...lets not test that one...

From her altitude and relative position, Dash could easily see Fluttershy's cottage, not being all that far from Sweet Apple Acres to begin with. The timid yellow mare was the only one of their friends she hadn't approached now, but short of Pinkie Pie, the least likely to know anything useful.

But then why'd Rarity even mention her? the cyan one wonders, furrowing her brow, what's the point of bringing her up just to say not to ask her? And what was with that look on her face? What am i missing here?.

Before she'd even consciously decided to do it, Dash found herself descending toward the cottage. And started having second-thoughts about it before she even landed, though it doesn't stop her. That unquantifiable sense had come back - the uncanny but seemingly sourceless impression she shouldn't be here.

As ever, the humble home sat amidst an idyllic scene, seemingly irregardless of the time of day or the weather. The animals were already asleep, or just paid no mind to the Pegasus as she walked the last of the way from the little bridge up to the front door. Nothing about the scene appeared to support her sixth sense.

As she neared, and long before she got to the point of knocking, however, her ears perk up to the sound of distinctly familiar voices from within the cottage. Fluttershy's was expected and obvious, but the cyan mare's surprise was drawn by what was clearly Twilight's as the second.

"How do you like your tea, anyway?" the yellow mare's muffled voice inquires curiously. "I've just realized I don't know".

A muffled casual laugh comes back ahead of the reply. "As coffee, usually. But black would be great".

What the hay...? confusion dominated Rainbow's features. The very concept of these two hanging out seemed incomprable to her somehow.

"Dinner smells great, by the way" came Twilight's muffled voice once more, "I don't think I've looked forward to a meal so much since...well, not long after I first moved here, and a certain group of someponies kept me from eating all day".

Fluttershy's voice came back first in a giggle, "I'm still sorry about that. I can't believe I got so carried away".

When did they become such good friends? They never hang out, they only talk when we're all together...or did I just like, not notice or something?

"I think Angel Bunny is a bad influence" Twilight's voice come through again, "but he is an adorable one, at least".

A shared laugh follows, but as the yellow mare replied, her voice was too far from the front door to hear, prompting Dash to move around along the side of the cottage. A casual observer might have pointed out there were surely laws against what she was doing, but she didn't seem to care.

"..nervous about tomorrow" the timid Pegasus' voice became clear again, "I know it's asking a lot".

Huh? What about tomorrow?

"Hey, it was my idea in the first place" came the Unicorn's reassuring voice in return. "I admit, I was a bit nervous about it myself at first. But I'm glad we're doing this date thing. I think it'll be good for both of us".

WHAT!?

The inevitable bemused spasm made the cyan one trip, knocking over a wheel-barrow which fell to the ground with a distinct thud, and consequent rattle of the gardening tools previously inside it spilling out. She instantly panicked, her eyes finding the first dense tree, which she promptly flew up into.

"What the hay! What was that?"

"Oh dear, I hope it wasn't a predator"

"Come on, we should check your animals are okay"

Rainbow Dash had already buried herself amongst the foliage by the time the cottage door swung open. Twilight came out first, holding a continual charge of magic in her horn and a look on her face that suggested it was going right up the rear end of anything that shouldn't be here.

Fluttershy quickly - by her standards at least - fluttered out to the animal enclosures and dens, and began checking them over while doing a head-count under the Unicorn's protective cover.

"Everyone looks fine" the yellow mare finally reports, then gestures a hoof at the sky, "but it looks like there's going to be a storm".

"It's just a rainstorm" the lavender mare informs assuringly, before converting the charge in her horn and releasing it. A gentle purple flash appeared around the various animal homes, which then materialized into waterproof screens and covers to block out the wind and rain. "Will that keep them safe?"

"Oh my..." Fluttershy observes in approval, fluttering over and inspecting a couple of them, "oh these are perfect, Twilight. I don't think they'll even notice the storm". She flies back to the Unicorn, wrapping her front legs around her in a warm hug, albeit from a slight elevation. "Thank you"

Twilight in turn gives the Pegasus a friendly nuzzle, "you're welcome".

After a few moments, the friendly embrace was released, and the other two Ponies returned indoors. Dash waited briefly still after she heard the door close behind them before risking coming down - dropping out of the tree into a hover, her face wearing the depth of her confusion and disbelief at this point.

What the hay is going on around here!?

Comments

[Frizzy]

It's been so long that I'm confused.

[Trace284]

I had to go back and read through the other chapters, still, this should be interesting.

[Nightsky Rain]

700511
I apologize, for what it's worth. I know the gap in updates from part 3 to part 4 was rather 'ridiculously' long.

[Trace284]

700570

Sokay, it was a good chapter! Just glad to see the fic's still going.

[EP-PayPhone]

As long as Trixie and Dash are kissing, this story will
be perfect in my eyes.