//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: How to Friendship a Comet // by Fylifa //------------------------------// “Here we go. A fresh pot to start the... day?” Starlight announced before looking over the observatory’s study. The mugs were gone, the notes tidied in neat piles, and the astrology texts lined back on the bookshelf. Everything looked picture perfect, including Twilight, who was finishing up by dusting erasers and setting the materials into their drawers. The princess’ mane looked brushed, and she was steady on her hooves. Seeing Starlight, she smiled. “Good morning!” “You actually followed my advice?” asked Starlight, blinking at this change. Twilight laughed at her expression. “Well, not at first. I collapsed and knocked over a bunch of papers and then I went to bed. I must have been pretty out of it yesterday.” “Kinda! I brought you coffee. Though it doesn’t look like you need it,” mused Starlight. Twilight stared at the carafe for a long moment before shaking her head vehemently. “I think I’m going to take a break from that for a while. Actually, I’m going to try to spend time with the others. I feel like I haven’t seen them in days! I hope you don’t mind, Starlight.” Starlight shrugged. “That’s fine with me.” She then brightened. “I can hop on the train and catch one of Trixie’s shows and be back by tonight! Erm... assuming you still want help? You don’t sound too worried about the comet anymore.” Twilight grumped at the mention of Trixie. Did Cherilee ever feel this way when she saw her students bolt for the door the minute the bell rang? “Let’s just say I had a friendship epiphany last night and—oh quit rolling your eyes!” Twilight huffed at the smirking Starlight before she continued, “I realized I’m not going to get much done just staring at textbooks that I’ve already read or spells I’ve already tried. Maybe the others can inspire me like you did yesterday.” When Twilight thought she might find inspiration, she didn’t think it would be a lesson on the subject of chafing. “Rainbow, do I really have to wear this? It’s... tight.” Rainbow Dash hoofed up her goggles and peered at her. “That’s the point! Didn’t you read about why we wear these in the first place, egghead?” Twilight sighed. “Yes, I know. But it’s tight!” She attempted to wiggle her hindleg and the material of the flightsuit creaked. The tightness on her limbs did make each step feel springy, but the press around her body was like being constantly hugged. Plus, it felt particularly snug at the seat. “Okay, maybe it’s a little tight,” Rainbow admitted. “But I don’t think it’s because it shrunk in the wash either.” Twilight shot her a glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Rainbow crossed her forehooves as she flapped in place. “Nothin’. Only that’s the same flight suit we had Rarity dress you up in when you were first learning how to fly. You know, back when you were doing your daily wing ups and eating Wonderbolt energy bars for lunch.” Rainbow leaned in then, matching Twilight’s glare with her own trainer’s fierceness. “You still do your morning thirty? What about your evening fifty? If we head over to Hayburger are they gonna tell me ‘Princess Twilight, who?’” Twilight mumbled something under her breath, eyes not quite meeting Rainbow’s own. Rainbow put a hoof up to her ear. “What was that? Can’t hear you!” Twilight forced a smile before she replied through gritted teeth, “I said, when Spitfire hangs up her whistle, they won’t have to look far for her replacement.” Rainbow looked satisfied and put her hooves behind her head. “Better. Oh, hey. Where’s the last thing? You know, for your horn?” “What? The sock?” Twilight asked with a scowl. “I’m not putting that on my head, Rainbow. No matter how much you yell at me.” Rainbow hoofed down her goggles. “Suit yourself. I’ve never had to fly a pony with a horn this far up. It gets pretty prickly.” With a few strong wingbeats she flew ahead. Twilight thought darkly about showing Rainbow how prickly a horn could be, but settled on practicing Cadance’s counting exercise: Breathe in. Breathe out. For a couple of hours, they had been using the thermals to gain altitude. From her non-pegasus perspective, Twilight thought it was like mountain climbing with the rhythm of short bursts of hard flying while clouds served as ledges for breaks. Rainbow kept in the lead and usually reached the next cloud shouting down encouragement, coaching or both. So it surprised Twilight to find Dash unusually silent on the next approach. Twilight looked about on the cloud they were on. There weren’t any more clouds now, just unending blueness. A glance over the edge made Twilight’s stomach lurch. The ground was so very far away. Rainbow kept quiet for a few more beats, simply staring off into the air. Finally, her ear twitched, and she made a ‘Hmmm’ sound. “Something the matter?” asked Twilight while trying to see what Rainbow could see. Rainbow’s ear twitched again, and she looked to be listening. “Naw... I think the air currents are in a calm right now. We could take a shortcut.” A grin spread over Dash’s face as the idea caught fire. “Yeah! We can totally pull it off. Get over here. I’m gonna carry us.” Twilight trusted Rainbow enough that it wasn’t until the hooves were around her and their chests pressed tightly together before she thought to ask, “Just how fast are we going to—eep!” She stiffened when Rainbow’s hooves clopped over her rear. Twilight blushed, and she laid a fresh glare. Rainbow rolled her eyes. She’d been in enough locker rooms to have an athlete’s sense of modesty. “I need a good grip. You get me around the neck.” Twilight did so, and she felt Rainbow tense as tight as a cable before beating her wings and soaring upward. As they gathered speed, Twilight tried to help with some sluggish flaps, but a swift smack to her backside kept her still and huddled against Rainbow. That Rainbow could launch straight up from a near standstill while carrying put into perspective just how much Dash had been holding back with their cloud hopping. Soon the air rippled and Twilight felt her stomach dip downward. A prism haze surrounded them, and the deafening rush of air became suddenly quiet as color streamed off the building bubble. Twilight had given up trying to understand her friend’s quirks and abilities after her disastrous study of Pinkie’s pinkie sense. Being inside a rainboom made her curious again on just how did Rainbow do her miraculous flying. Though her attention was soon taken by the change in the surrounding backdrop. The sky darkened, and a horizon formed between the blue of day below and the star-studded blackness above. It was breathtaking. Literally, in fact, as when Dash stopped their ascent and the rainbow bubble dissipated, Twilight started wheezing at the rarefied atmosphere. Rainbow rubbed at Twilight’s shoulder. “Air is pretty thin up here. Stay calm and try to relax. You don’t need to flap as much to stay in one place.” Twilight nodded went back to counting breaths while she watched Rainbow zip around in a wide circle. Eventually, a disk of cloud formed in the center. It was small and when Twilight set down; it felt paper thin under her hooves. Still, it was something solid to rest on. The gathered air was also easier to breathe. When she could finally speak, Twilight got the words out in measured pants, “You... seem… fine...?” Rainbow nodded. “I fly up high all the time. Being at ground level is the trickier for me. Sometimes I hold my breath just to stop from getting dizzy.” She smiled and with some encouragement added, “but hey, you’re up here now! That’s great for a first timer. How’s the horn?” With very little air to shield them, the difference of one side being warmed by the sun and the other side in the shade made Twilight paradoxically sweat and shiver at the same time. She had a newfound appreciation for the flightsuit’s insulated tightness. The mention of her horn drew her attention upward. Twilight’s horn had frosted over and resembled an icicle stuck on her forehead. She lit her magic and gradually melted the ice with a few shakes of her head. “Not too bad, but maybe you were right. I should have worn the sock.” “Yep. I know I’m amazing,” said Rainbow with her typical humility before reclining back on the cloudstuff and making it bow out underneath like a hammock. “Try not to look at the sun. It hurts pretty bad when you do up here. That’s the comet over there?” Twilight shaded her eyes with a hoof and panned the sky. It felt strange being able to see both the stars and moon with the sun still at a high angle. That pronounced sunshine warmth tingled all over as she turned in place to find the troublesome celestial snowball. The comet was still smaller than the moon, but inched along at an almost visible rate. In a cosmic sense, that meant it was moving quickly. With some squinting, she thought she could see details in the tail now: little chunks of ice breaking off the main thing before turning into a misty trail. Rainbow mused the distance alongside her. “Looks like you got a clear shot if you’re going to try. Now or never, princess.” “Give me a minute,” muttered Twilight. Though by the tone, she knew Rainbow was playing coach again. Some of yesterday’s anxiety returned, but she swallowed and reached out with her magic. Spells to try came to mind as Twilight considered the distances involved. Mentally, she observed just how much magic theory was written from a ground perspective. A fact that was hard to appreciate until one climbed to the very top of creation and stared out into the void. She never had to think before if a spell’s range could be more than the distance of Equestria. Or if she had to lead her magical sense when there were light-seconds of difference between two points. She could have spent years writing papers about it. Here she had to do it practically and on the fly. Twilight wished she could have brought along the half dozen scientific tools in her observatory. There were spell equivalents, but the trouble with magical measurements was the reliance on mental perception instead of hard numbers. Let’s start with composition. That can work on light reflected even if it can’t reach. This was a warm up spell. The composition of the comet hadn’t been a mystery. Much like Pinkie had said, it was a ball of ice around stone. Twilight could feel it now in sequence: a sting of chill for the ice, a dip of moistness for the water, rough pebbly texture for stone and… a musical chiming note. What was that? Some exotic metal? Gemstone? With a shake of her head, she cleared the magical charge and made a mental note to see if she could find a match for the sound later. Twilight had used the earlier half of the flight to go over mental checklists of what spells to try, and she had about twenty to work through. Funny how some ponies marveled at her memorization, even if Twilight told them it was like how they memorized song albums or hoofball statistics. The issue with her spells returned to the problem of anchors and distance. She simply couldn’t stretch a spell that far along without breaking the connection from herself. While any magic that she bundled up and flung out weakened significantly before it could even get close. Of course, if the comet had been close enough to touch, she would have a whole new set of problems. At least she could know if she was having an effect. Reciting spell formulae and throwing the occasional bolt of magic didn’t give her any feedback at all. Partway through the second pass of her list, she sighed and flopped backwards onto the cloud. “No luck?” asked Rainbow while peeking an eye open. With her part of the job done, she’d been napping in-between her circular sprints to refresh their cloud platform. “It’s just too far!” cried Twilight. She punched the side of the cloud with a hoof in her frustration. “It’s closer to us now than the moon is and it’s even smaller than that. Luna does this every night. It can’t be impossible!” “Sorry, I can’t tell you much about magic that you don’t already know,” replied Rainbow, shrugging. She scratched at an ear before asking, “I don’t suppose there’s like... a kind of training you could do with magic to make it stronger?” Twilight chuckled. “If there was, I’m sure you’d have me juggling planets while hoofpressing weights and running a race at the same time.” Rainbow’s concerned expression changed to a smile. “I just wanna see you be the best you can be, yeah?” The thought cheered Twilight some, even if the task remained a figurative and literal huge lift. Well gotta at least try it once up here. “Can I borrow your goggles?” asked Twilight. Rainbow frowned. “What happened to yours?” “I might have left it on the table next to the sock.” “You know I’d flunk you if you were in my class. This is like ten laps around Ponyville, at least.” Despite her ribbing, Rainbow hoofed her goggles over to Twilight. Twilight lifted the pair up and began casting a spell to darken the lenses. “If I get this moving, I’ll put on all the socks, goggles, bells, lights and play the part of the next Hearth’s Warming tree.” With her shaded goggles Twilight faced the comet head-on, taking the brunt of sunshine on her peripheral. She would need to focus on the comet without it leaving her sight and she didn’t want to go blind from the sun's glare. With a steadying breath, she lit her horn and tried once more to recapture the feeling she had when all the alicorn powers were within her. It had been so simple, to just reach out and grasp it. On the ground, one could always feel out with their telekinetic sense thanks to the air. Here there was nothing and Twilight sweated from the effort. It was like trying to grope out for something in utter darkness with a numb hoof. C’mon... C’mon... Pleaaase? Twilight kept the comet in the center of her vision until her eyes blurred under the goggles. When the comet wiggled in place, Twilight gasped, only to feel herself pitch forward. She had been leaning so much that she perched at the edge of the cloud. Instead of black space, Equestria itself lay out below her in a colorful, captivating sprawl. Her horn winked out as she lost her wits and felt herself teetering forward. Rainbow hauled her back from the edge a moment later. “Whoa! Careful Twi!” Twilight gasped and shook her head, squirming in Rainbow Dash’s grasp. The near fall winded her all over again and her words came out in pants, “I... am okay... I... Let me try... again.” “Nuh-uh! We’re going back down. You look more red than purple!” Rainbow’s hooves tightened around Twilight’s middle. Twilight looked at the comet, still on its course. Had she moved it? She couldn’t tell. “I... need... to... I am... a... princess.” She tried to explain through shortened breaths. “And I’m a Wonderbolt. I gotta protect you first, even when you got Princess stuff to do! Don’t think I won’t carry you the whole way down. We’ve been up here long enough. You’re getting loopy.” Twilight sighed and slumped in Rainbow’s embrace. Rarity shrieked. “What have you done?!” She forcefully pulled Twilight’s hoof forward to stare at the tattered sleeve of the flight suit. “Hi Rari—urk!” Twilight began before needing to deal with a faceful of marshmallow hoof. Rarity pushed Twilight’s head to the side and looked scandalized at the ragged scorch mark in the fabric. “How did this happen? Who did this? Was it Rainbow? It was!” Rarity declared and glared daggers at the similarly disheveled Rainbow. “You and your stunts and shenanigans!” “Me?! I didn’t do anything! It was the storm that did it!” Rainbow shot back. “You try dodging a storm front while carrying a pony from a zillion miles up.” “You can’t treat a princess like... like some sort of daredevil, taking her through storms and ruining her fine wardrobe! She’s royalty! She. Requires. A. Gentle. Touch!” Rarity bonked Twilight’s nose on each word for emphasis until Twilight sneezed. Rarity made a face and gingerly lifted her hoof off Twilight’s nose. She looked at Twilight reproachfully, only to gasp as she saw her directly for the first time. “Twilight! Your mane! Why is it like that?” Twilight rubbed her nose. “Why is it like what?” She asked nasally. Rarity’s perfume laden hoof gave her the sniffles. After turning towards one of the standing mirrors, she gasped as well. As mares went, Twilight never really experimented with manestyles. She rarely went to Ponyville’s salon and usually did the pragmatic method of putting a bowl over her head and snipping along the bangs just like her mother taught her. Frankly, anything other than occasional shampooing felt like a waste of time. Presently in the mirror, Twilight’s mane looked bleached with the violet streaks a few shades lighter than normal. It made for a vibrant contrast between the purple bands. The changed look wasn’t uniform, however, and the tones were uneven and muddled. Rainbow hovered near and muttered, “I dunno. It looks fine to me.” This statement earned her another weapon-filled glare from Rarity. “Darling, did you have a bit of trouble with the amounts? You ought to have let somepony with an eye for this teach you over this blue ruffian.” Rarity had a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, idly fussing with Twilight’s mane even as she expressed her sympathy. “Augh! No! Rarity...” Twilight shooed her off her with a flailing of forehooves. “It became this way when Dash and I were flying... I guess?” “Just happened? While flying? Is this something to do with your... you know—” asked Rarity before making a vague gesture at Twilight’s wings, “—princessness?” Twilight considered that notion. What could have done it? Another glance at the mirror showed the discoloration and shading one sided along half of her head and neck. “The sun? Rainbow, was it when the sun shined on me?” Rainbow shrugged. “Don’t ask me, I was too busy catching you... then carrying you down while trying not to get roasted by lightning bolts.” That last part Rainbow said overloud and directed at Rarity. Rarity harrumphed to Rainbow but kept on. “Well, you must get yourself up there again, Twilight. Or at least sprawl yourself out on a beach for a while. It certainly won’t do to remain a patchwork mess.” Suddenly, with her horn alight, Rarity’s magic gripped both Rainbow and Twilight by the necks of their flightsuits. A surprising show of magical muscle that pulled Rainbow out of the air and had Twilight backpedalling. “For now, out of those at once! I will not let another minute go by with a wonderbolt and a princess looking like vagrants!” declared Rarity. “Nopony will ever say that I didn’t do my duty to Equestria!” “Since when are you such a patriot?” Rainbow complained as she stripped alongside Twilight. The lightning scarred flight suits didn’t even touch the ground before being carried away behind Rarity as she went out to her workshop. Towels flew in the reverse direction, one gently setting itself across Twilight’s back while the other bundled up into a ball and struck Rainbow on the nose. Rarity leaned her head around the corner. “I want both of you in the bath and running your heads under the shower. This disaster will need all my skills to mend.” Rainbow lifted the towel between her hooves. “Why are you giving one to me? My mane isn’t messy or mixed up!” Rarity’s expression softened while her tone became soothing, as if she were talking to a filly. “Trust me, darling, you want me to look after you just as much as Twilight does.” Twilight didn’t quite remember voicing that particular concern or even agreeing to the manewash in the first place, but her wings ached and a relaxing shower was something she probably was going to do anyway after the day she’d had. Twilight took her time under the running water, using the opportunity to theorize. Were the changes to her mane really specific to alicorns? Celestia and Luna had unique wavering manes, but Cadance and Flurry Heart didn’t. Was it something that happened to high altitude flying ponies? Rainbow’s mane was somewhat unique and Spitfire’s was arguably just as bright. She needed more data, though the mystery was relatively minor compared to the comet itself. After leaving the shower, Twilight found Rainbow asleep under the hair dryer, her snores nearly matching the industrial whine of the motor itself. Rarity stayed nearby, her mane kit open in front of her and the styling tools arranged like a surgeon’s instruments. With Rarity’s attention focused elsewhere, it seemed like a good time to ask about something that had been pushed to the backburner of Twilight’s thoughts. “Rarity, do you have a collection of gemstones I can look at?” “Mm? Of course. Are you looking for something for spring or fall?” answered Rarity with a beaming smile. She had been trying to get Twilight interested in jewelry for ages. “Actually… I haven’t decided on that yet. I want to look at the entire collection. Err… say to get an idea. I’m trying to find a gem that I heard about before.” Twilight skipped the more detailed magical explanation that would probably put Rarity to sleep alongside Rainbow. “Well, if anything stands out, you’re more than welcome to it. The collection is down the hall second door to the left. I’d go with, but I know the instant I step away, this one will be out the window in an eye blink.” Leaving Rarity to her guard duty, Twilight soon found the mentioned room. Once inside, she carefully closed the door behind her. She would need quiet for the spell she had in mind. The room itself was arranged to a level that even Twilight could respect. Gems sat in orderly velvet boxes organized categorically by type, facet cut and carat. Each came complete with little placards to help identity each gem by name and class. Rarity could be over dramatic and silly sometimes, but with gemstones, she was a true professional. Twilight closed her eyes and lit her horn, preparing the spectrum spell she used before. A quiet chiming rang as her horn waved over the display stands. She never had much of an ear for music, but she figured she could at least pick up on a familiar sound. It was meticulous work, but eventually she narrowed it down to two stones with similar tones. She tried not to look at them, fixating only on the sound they resonated in her horn. Upon reaching a verdict, she lifted something that looked like a geode from the display case. Compared to all the brilliant stones around, it looked on the plain side. A second glance over to the contender had Twilight tempted to recheck her findings. A bright white faceted jewel that looked close to a diamond. Though as much as the diamond resonated favorably under her horn magic, the common geode was certainly the one she had heard up there on that cloud. Twilight felt mildly disappointed. It made logical sense that a stone hurling through space would be composed up of rough commonplace materials. Though it’d have been neat if it were made out of sapphires or diamonds instead of what looked like colored quartz. Bah, it was supposed to be her comet after all! Couldn’t it at least been made of amethyst? Idly, Twilight read the placard and chuckled at the location. The geode came from the Crystal Empire. She remembered how Rarity had initially fawned over every piece of faceted furniture and architecture, thrilled with the idea that her gemstone-enhanced dresses would be a hit. Right until she found out that crystals to crystal ponies were as common as dirt. Rarity soon adapted when she found out that they were interested more in fine, softer cloth to compliment their hard forms. When Twilight returned to Rarity, she asked if she could borrow the geode on the idea it might be helpful to have something to approximate the comet’s composition. “That old thing? You can keep it.” Rarity peered at Twilight with a critical eye before venturing, “Darling, as a princess, you can afford to spoil yourself a little. You needn’t use costume jewelry.” Her eyes widened and then practically sparkled with a new idea. “Why could make you a matching set of gemstone hoof shoes to go with your tiara! Then you’ll have good enough reason to put it on more fanciful pieces.” As if Twilight’s reluctance to brandish her regalia was because she didn’t have enough of it. “Maybe next time. I promise I’ll make an appointment,” said Twilight with a small smile. “After all, I wouldn’t trust any other pony than you with dressing me up.” Rarity made a series of happy fashionista noises, at that compliment. Rainbow snores turned into snorts, and she rolled over with a sleepy groan. “You are going to wake her up... right?” Twilight had visions of an over-dried Rainbow Dash frizzy like a multicolored ball. “Yes, yes. Of course. When she is good and ready.” Rarity’s voice dipped ominously as she murmured, “Once she has no other choice. I have been trying before you even came to Ponyville to get a hoof on that mane. So much raw potential utterly wasted.” “Well, thank you for tidying me up and for the geode. I’ll be at the castle if you need me,” said Twilight before heading out. She only managed a few steps out the front door when a multicolored streak zipped over head and Rarity’s wailings came from behind. “Twiiiilight! Catch her! She didn’t even let me do her baaaaangs!” sobbed Rarity. Rainbow stopped on an aerial dime on hearing that hoof-gauntlet thrown, turning in mid-air to grin at Twilight. “Hah! Catch me?! Think you can, egghead?” Twilight’s first impulse was to teleport and tackle Rainbow, but that’d probably be cheating. Or worse, Rainbow could still end up dodging. Twilight would never hear the end of it. As hopeless as it was to beat Rainbow’s speed, the taunting smirk had Twilight spreading her wings. Maybe she could surprise Little Miss Wonderbolt with a strong opening sprint. Twilight got a half step and two wingbeats before nearly falling on her face when a sudden pang in her left wing made her cry out in pain. Rainbow quickly landed and Rarity trotted up from behind, their antics quickly put aside. “Dear! Are you okay? What is it?” asked Rarity, more concerned now than her earlier dramatics. “Looks like she’s got a cramped wing. It happens when you don’t do your wingups regularly!” said Rainbow with a certain viciousness only a coach could have. “Thanks for the reminder,” Twilight mumbled before wincing as Rainbow swooped, caught her under her forehooves and hefted her up. “What in Equestria are you doing?!” cried Rarity, aghast. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m carrying her!” Rainbow grunted. Rarity shook her head. “You’re planning to drag her like that across town? Carrying our princess as if she were sack of potatoes? It’ll be the death of her!” “What? I’ve been carrying her up and down all day!” “I meant the social death! Besides, she has hours of work on her mane. She needs a lady’s touch!” Rarity lit her horn to grasp Twilight by the hindhooves, and pulled her out like a plank in between her and Rainbow. Rainbow tightened her grip and yelled, “Hey! Let go! I told you I got this!” She started winging back while pulling on Twilight’s shoulders. Rarity sounded out something rather mule-ish and dug in her hooves to pull even harder with her magic. “Unhoof her, you foalnapper!” “ENOUGH!” shouted Twilight with exasperation. A bright purple flash later and both Rarity and Rainbow flew up into the air, surrounded in a purple glow as Twilight appeared back on her hooves. “My legs and horn are fine. I’ll MANAGE.” Rainbow did a flipflop in her magical soapbubble and then pointed with a hoof out the side. “Hey! Fluttershy’s house is pretty close. She’s not half bad with backs and joints. Helped me get through plenty sprains and muscle pulls before. You should try going there.” “Also darling, would you mind letting us down before you go?” asked Rarity sheepishly. “Pretty please?”