Interlude: Subtlety
With the rain finally abating, Fluttershy grabbed several buckets filled with food for the animals in her care, carrying one with her mouth and another two by their handles on the tips of her outstretched wings. Most of her animal friends had likely tended to themselves by now, but after a rough patch of weather like this, she figured they might need an extra helping to make up for the rain and the cold. She had, of course, offered all of them shelter inside her house, but a lot of them had preferred to stay outdoors, being uncomfortable in enclosed spaces.
After feeding the birds, rabbits, otters, badgers, raccoons, ferrets, squirrels, ducks, swans, flamingos, lone buzzard, chickens, marmots, lumbering bear and single errant meerkat which had inexplicably found itself in Ponyville, as well as the other assorted small animals—furry, feathered, scaly or otherwise—she went to check her mailbox. As she did, she noticed a rainbow-coloured tail hanging from a small cloud hovering over the roadside.
“Hello there, Rainbow Dash,” she called out loudly enough to get her attention, or at least what qualified as loud for Fluttershy. Dash’s face immediately appeared at the edge of the cloud, though she seemed to relax when she saw Fluttershy.
“Hey there, ’Shy. What’s up?”
“Oh, I was just wondering—uhm, not that it’s any of my business to ask, but—what are you doing up there?”
“Oh, you know, just napping,” Dash replied airily, making a show of stretching languidly and yawning. Fluttershy looked at the soaked mane plastered to the pegasus’ face.
“Have you been out here all morning? You look a little, uhm, soaked.”
“No! I mean, not really. I was out on weather patrol, to see if the rain was falling in the right places like it should. And then I decided to take a nap here.” Dash shrugged lightly.
“But wasn’t the rain supposed to cover all of Ponyville and its surroundings?”
“Yeah, well, had to make sure we didn’t miss a spot, see?”
“Uhm. Okay, then. Would you like something to eat or drink? I can make you a warm cup of tea.”
Dash shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. Nice of you to ask, though. Anyway, I’m gonna take another forty winks, so…” She reclined onto the cloud again.
“All right, uhm, I’ll talk to you later, then?”
“Yeah, later.”
Fluttershy was just about to walk back indoors when Rainbow Dash’s voice called out again.
“Hey, uh, ’Shy, this is where Scootaloo usually comes to and from Ponyville, right?”
“Oh, well, yes, I often see her pass by here. Uhm, why?”
“Aw, shoot, seems like this cloud has lost its fluff. I gotta go get a new one. Later!” With that, Dash grabbed her makeshift bed and zoomed up into the low-hanging clouds, disappearing from view.
“Oh, that’s okay, I wasn’t curious anyway,” Fluttershy mumbled and went back inside her house.
Rainbow Dash waited inside the cloud until she heard the door close shut below her, before swooping back down, a little further away from Fluttershy’s cottage this time. She flopped onto her cumulus-bed again with a little sigh. She had lost track of how long she had waited, but she was fairly sure it had been at least a couple of hours by now. She liked it best when she was able to fly freely wherever she wanted, or failing that, napping to let her regain energy to fly some more, but she was unable to do either at the moment. Simply waiting rankled her something fierce.
“Come on, where are you?” she muttered to herself, rolling a bit back and forth on the cloud restlessly. Finally, her ears picked up a distinct buzzing sound, and she glanced down to see a familiar orange filly zoom along on the road below. At last!
She waited until she estimated that the other pony was just below her before leaning over the cloud’s edge and calling out.
“Oh, heya, Squirt! Didn’t expect to see you here.”
Just as she had hoped, Scootaloo pulled to a stop at the sound of her voice and looked up.
“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing up there?”
“Oh, I was just taking a nap before trying out my awesome new routine. Have to say, it’s probably got some of the coolest moves I’ve ever done, but then again, it’s me, so no big surprise, right?” she replied with a light shrug.
“U-huh…”
“So hey, now that you’re here anyway, you wanna come and watch?” Dash asked, grinning as she waited for the expected response.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “What, you need somepony to fetch you drinks and snacks or something while you fly around?”
Dash’s grin faltered for just a split-second. That was not the expected response. Quick, improvise!
“Sure, if you’re offering…” she replied nonchalantly. “I’ll probably need a little something, seeing as these are like super awesome moves.”
“Yeah, no thanks, I’ve got other plans. Later, Dash.” Scootaloo sped off again without waiting for a reply.
Rainbow Dash looked after the orange filly for several seconds. That was definitely not the expected response. She briefly contemplated chasing after the filly, but decided against it almost immediately. She realized she desperately needed some help with this, but from whom? Normally, she would, albeit reluctantly, turn to Fluttershy with matters like these, but she had just hoof-waved all of Fluttershy’s questions off a short while ago, and knocking on her door now to ask for help would seem both suspicious and weak. Pinkie and Twilight were out of the question for obvious reasons, leaving only Rarity and Applejack. Of those two, Applejack seemed most likely to be able to help her, although Celestia knew the farmpony would not let Dash live this down unless she went about this really smartly.
Reluctantly, she set a course for Sweet Apple Acres.
Rainbow Dash found Applejack applebucking her way through the orchard, collecting the fruits in baskets placed strategically around the trees for just that purpose. Dash had to approach this very carefully so as not to give anything away about her motives. She had to play it cool.
“Hey, AJ,” she said, landing next to the farmpony.
“RD,” Applejack greeted her in return, giving the tree a firm kick. A shower of apples and raindrops drizzled from the tree’s crown.
Dash bounced a falling apple off her left wing and into a nearby basket. “What’s up?”
The farmpony moved to the next tree. “Applebuckin’.”
“Cool.” Dash followed her and let out an inaudible sigh of relief. The ice was broken, now she just had to move on to the next step. This would require extreme subtlety.
“So hey, AJ, you got a sister, right?”
“Whatever gave that away, sug’?” Applejack grunted as she delivered an expert buck, not slowing down in her work.
“You ever have troubles getting along?” Dash asked nonchalantly, feigning interest in a particularly shiny red apple.
“Nope.” Next tree. Kick. Apple shower.
Dash figured that perhaps she was being too subtle; it was clear that Applejack was not picking up on what Dash was hinting at, but neither was she opening up in the direction Dash hoped. Perhaps she needed a little helping along.
“See, I just figure, there’s gotta be times when you two lock heads, yeah? I’m just guessing you’ve got ways to fix your sisterly stuff, right?” Dash made a show of inspecting her own wings in a casual manner.
Applejack looked at the pegasus and raised an eyebrow. “Do Ah need to give ya mah apple-pie speech, too?”
“Huh?”
“Nevermind. Lookie here, sug’,” she said, pausing in her work for the first time to look at Dash, “bein’ a good sister’s a two-way street. T’ain’t just enough that only one pony gives an’ the other one takes. The other one’s gotta be willin’ ta give too, an’ the first’s gotta be willin’ ta take in return. Otherwise, it just don’t work out. An’ that goes not just for sisters, but for friends, loved ones, really any kinda relationship ya can think of.”
Dash stood quietly for a few moments, chewing on her cheek as she digested this information.
“Does that answer yer question?” Applejack asked in a slightly softer tone, smiling a little.
“Yeah, I think so. So, uhm, say you’ve been a bit of a jerk towards Apple Bloom and made her get you apple cider all day or something—Not that I think you’ve done that or anything!” she quickly added after seeing the expression on Applejack’s face. “But if you had, you’d do something for her that she wants to make up for it?”
Applejack shrugged lightly. “Pretty much. But it’d probably be better not to be a jerk in the first place, don’tcha think?”
“Yeah,” Dash muttered, rubbing the back of her head. “Anyway, uh, I can see you’ve got this sister thing under control, so that’s… great for you! Heh, no need for me to get you a book from Twilight about how to be a good sister, right?” She flashed one of her trademark winning grins. Nopony could resist her trademark winning grins.
“Right,” Applejack agreed in a neutral voice.
“So yeah, I’ve got to, ah, go and clear out any straggler clouds. Catch you later, AJ!” Dash quickly took off before Applejack would start becoming suspicious. It had gone perfectly; Applejack had told Dash everything she needed to know, and the farmpony was none the wiser.
“Okay, good luck with Scootaloo,” Applejack called after her as she went back to applebucking.
Oh, ponyfeathers.
Spike was heading up to Twilight’s room with a tray of tea and biscuits when the door was flung open, sending the hapless dragon tumbling back down the stairs.
“Spike! I’ve finally got it!” Twilight declared excitedly, grabbing the teapot, cup, biscuits and baby dragon with her magic before any of them could hit the floor.
“Wh-what? Huh?” Spike stammered from his upside-down suspension in the air. The lavender unicorn put him down along with his tray of refreshments before showing him one of the countless books from her study.
“The answer to what’s going on with Sweetie Belle’s magic problem! I knew the answer would be found in a book! Oh, I’ve got to go tell her right away!” She let out a gleeful squee and ran for the door.
“But what about your—” the door slammed shut behind the librarian “—tea,” Spike finished. He put the tray down on the floor and gave the cookies a sideways glance. “Well, it’d be a shame to let all this go to waste…”
Outside, Twilight made straight for the Carousel Boutique. It took her a few moments to notice the pink pony next to her, effortlessly keeping up with her wild galloping through gliding bounces.
“Hey, Twilight! Where are you going? Anywhere fun? Oh, can I come too?” Pinkie chirped happily.
“I’ve got big news for Sweetie Belle! I’m on my way to tell her,” Twilight replied, wondering briefly what the odds were that Pinkie Pie would be near the library at this exact time to spot Twilight and catch up with her. She quickly dropped the thought; she had learned long ago not to question Pinkie’s erratic behaviour.
“Oooh, is it a surprise? I love surprises! Can I come too? Please let me come!”
Twilight let out a little chuckle. “Sure, Pinkie, why not.” As they made their way towards the Boutique, Twilight noticed something rainbow-coloured streak across the sky towards Canterlot.
The door to the Boutique was opened a few moments after Twilight knocked on it, revealing Rarity wearing a hat that would make any attendee at a Canterlot garden party green with envy.
The fashionable unicorn greeted them with a smile, gesturing for them to come inside. “Oh, hello, Twilight, Pinkie. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Hey, Rarity. Is Sweetie Belle around? I think I’ve finally figured out why she is having such troubles with her magic!” Twilight said excitedly.
“Oh? I’m afraid you just missed her; she left just a short while ago. She and her friends are having a sleepover, apparently,” Rarity replied, gently brushing away a captivated Pinkie who was absorbed playing with a couple of the enormous, colourful feathers extending from Rarity’s hat. “But do tell me. I’m most curious to know myself as well.”
“Right, so if I am correct in my hypothesis, it appears that Sweetie Belle’s problems with magic stem from the fact that she is not supposed to do that kind of magic!” Twilight beamed at the other unicorn, who in turn seemed less convinced that this was somehow good news.
“I… beg your pardon?”
“The book I read describes a rare condition in unicorns called ‘resonance.’ Those who have it experience difficulty in performing what would be considered basic magic for most other unicorns, and they also suffer from occasional outbursts of wild, uncontrolled magic that is tied to their emotional state.”
“Ooo…kay? So what, if I may ask, does this condition actually mean for my Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked cautiously. Pinkie had lost interest in the feathers of her hat and moved on to inspect a roll of colourful, glittering fabric on the nearby table.
“Apparently, roughly one out of every two hundred unicorns is born with this condition, though it affects each one in varying degrees. The stronger the condition, the more difficult regular magic becomes. For most, it just means they master their magic a bit later than others, but for others, it manifests in a very peculiar way,” Twilight explained, going fully into scholar-mode. “Here’s where it gets a bit technical; according to the book, spells that have traumatic or negative effects leave behind an echo of sorts of what happened. Resonators, as the book calls them, can sense these imprints, and their magic manifests as the ability to purge the echoes by clearing away the negative energy that lingers.”
Twilight was almost bouncing on the spot. “Rarity, I think Sweetie Belle is a resonator! How amazing is that? This opens up such an incredible field of study!”
Rarity let out an outraged gasp. “Twilight Sparkle! This is my sister we are talking about, not a guinea pig you can run tests on! And you are telling me that poor Sweetie Belle may never be able to do magic like others because she is one of these… resonators? And you ask me if I think it is amazing?!”
Twilight’s smile faltered. “Uhm… well…” she mumbled, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.
“Hey hey hey, easy now,” Pinkie said, popping in between the two unicorns. “I’m sure Twilight didn’t mean it like that. She just got really excited because she’s a super incredible smarty-pony and she figured out how to help one of her friends, right?”
Both Twilight and Rarity were a little surprised by the pink pony. Despite having been seemingly caught up in her own world, the earth pony had evidently been paying attention to the whole conversation.
“Well, yes, but—” Twilight began.
“And Rarity didn’t mean to yell, she’s just really worried about her sister because she loves her very much and wants to help her too, right?” Pinkie continued, turning towards Rarity.
“Yes, Pinkie is right,” Rarity agreed. “I am sorry for my outburst, Twilight. I know you’ve worked very hard to help both me and Sweetie Belle out, and I apologize.”
“It’s okay, I think my mouth went ahead of my brain there,” Twilight replied with a little smile, before her face became serious. “I’m not sure what Sweetie Belle will think of it, though. It can be a potentially life-changing revelation, if the condition manifests strongly enough in her. Or it could mean she just has to wait a bit longer than other unicorns to do magic. The book wasn’t clear enough on how to tell a light case of the condition from a severe one.”
Rarity wrung her hooves anxiously. “Oh, how should I go about telling her this? My poor little sister. She already obsesses enough over not having her Cutie Mark when others do. If she knew she wouldn’t be able to do magic like others either…”
“What about saying it with cake? Everything is better with cake,” Pinkie Pie suggested from one of the dressing tables where she was busy amusing herself by making grimaces in front of the mirror. Multitasking was evidently not an obstacle for the pink pony.
“I’m not sure. I think the best you can do is to be gentle but honest about it. Tell her that we don’t know exactly how it will affect her, but that there’s at least a reason for her problems,” Twilight said.
“Maybe… but on the other hoof, I feel that she has enough to worry about right now without having this dumped on her, too.” Rarity sighed, pacing back and forth restlessly.
“If you were your little sister, would you want this kept a secret from you?” Pinkie asked from her new position atop the head of one of the mannequins, balancing precariously on her left hooves.
Rarity thought for a moment. “No. No, I would not,” she admitted. She let out another sigh. “I’ll tell her. Once she is back from her sleepover, I’ll let her know.”
Twilight nodded. “Do you want help deciding how you’re going to tell her? We’ll stay and help you out, if you want.”
“Yeah, I’ve got loads and loads of ideas! And they don’t all have to involve cake, either!” Pinkie chimed in, jumping down to join them.
Rarity smiled at her friends. “You know, I think I would like that. If nothing else, I would be grateful for the company right now. Make yourselves comfortable, I’ll go put some tea over.”
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Would somepony please explain WHY this great piece of literature has only 8 thumbs up? And WHY it isn't in the featured box?
1484751
Wow, thank you for the kind words! It's always encouraging to hear that people enjoy reading what I write. To be honest, even if only one person read my story, but that person happened to like it, it'd still have been worth the effort.
LOL!
This story is so darn good, your characters have so much life and depth and it's such a fun read! Like everyone's been saying, it really needs more love.
2303539
I'm very happy to hear that! Every reader is a boon, and I do hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.
–“Okay, good luck with Scootaloo,” Applejack called after her as she went back to applebucking.
Hahaha, win!
–"[...]” Rarity replied, gently brushing away a captivated Pinkie who was absorbed playing with a couple of the enormous, colourful feathers extending from Rarity’s hat.
Pardon me while I marvel, again, at how you write everypony. All to often I'll read fics that, while decent, don't emphasize certain character traits enough to make them feel entirely believable – Either that or have characters speak in voices that don't quite sound like their own. Never once has that been a problem in this story, and while it may seem like a minor detail, it really makes it easy to immerse oneself in the fic.
So, that's what Sweetie's problem is, huh? Damn. Hope it's not too serious a case – although it seems it might be. But it explains the illusion in the cave/tunnel thingy.
It's definitely going to be an interesting ride to see how Rainbow handles her situation with Scootaloo. Looks like it's already proving itself to be a problem that needs to be taken more seriously than she is.
3274069
I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying the characterizations. Pinkie in particular was a tricky beast for me to work with, trying to walk that line between making her silly-Pinkie without making her overly random or simply not Pinkie enough, if that makes sense. If it works for you, then I'm very pleased.
I hope all the questions you have that arise regarding Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and others will be answered to your satisfaction. I look forward to hearing your reaction to the later parts!
At this point I have to ask a similar question to Bringer-of-Doom. At this point it only has 163 up votes. Everypony is captured perfectly and the story, so far, is simple but engaging. It's rather rare to encounter a CMC fic where the author so brilliantly succeeds to write each member as unique individuals.
That made me laugh like a hyena.