They were making progress. Spike had, thus far, managed to correctly pronounce ‘tree,’ ‘cloud,’ ‘sun’ and ‘awesome,’ although that was not one of the things Twilight was trying to get him to pronounce. She puffed out a quick breath before reaching for another object. “Alright, let’s do one more, okay Spike?” Twilight pulled up a water bottle in her magic, letting it float lazily in the air in front of Spike’s eager eyes. “This is water. Okay? Repeat after me: water.”
“Wah-bo,” Spike tried, scrunching up his little face and then smacking his lips together.
Twilight rolled her eyes at him in amusement. Despite the butchery he was committing upon the Equestrian language, his self awareness made it forgivable and, to be fair, rather adorable. “No, Spike. Water. Try again.”
“Wagau…” Spike said again, tilting his head and then frowning. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth for a few seconds before speaking again. “Wakar!”
Twilight laughed again at that before shaking her head. “That’s closer, but you’re still off, Spike,” She then stole a look to her clock and sighed heavily. “And I hate to break it to you, but we’re out of time. I gotta get a move on. Class starts in thirty minutes.”
“Klouth…” Spike echoed, before wilting slightly. He glanced over to the saddlebags with the gems in them. “Foug?”
Twilight giggled at the gibberish that she had learned to interpret as ‘food’ from the tiny creature. “Okay, Spike. Give me a second,” She turned and lifted four or five sizable gems from the saddlebags in her magic. She then set them down in front of Spike, who squaled in delight. “Dont shovel them down too fast, now. I don’t want to come back and see you choking on the floor. We’ll pick this up when I’m back, okay?”
“Akee!” Spike replied before contentedly picking up the first gem in his tiny claws. He licked his lips and took a bit, suddering with ecstacy. Twilight smiled warmly before assembling her supplies, consisting of three notebooks, a stack of flashcards bound by a rubber-band, a text book and a box of pencils. Satisfied that she had everything, she shot one last look at the baby dragon on her floor before setting off, exiting her room and then leaving the private wing.
As she trotted down the halls towards the exit that would put her close to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop on nearby ponies, nobles and the sort, as they went about their business. Her ears flattened back at some of what she heard. The nobles were talking about Princess Celestia’s announcement the previous day, unveiling her adopted daughter, Rainbow Dash.
Well, everypony was talking about that, not just the nobles. But while many of the commoner ponies were touched or pleasantly surprised by the announcement, there was no small amount of disdain and disapproval among some of the more ‘refined’ noble families.
Refined… tch, yeah. Stuck up jerks would be more accurate… Twilight thought bitterly to herself. She had to admit, albeit only ever silently, that there was one massive downside to being in Celestia’s school, and even moreso to living in the castle. The sheer arrogance of many of the nobles who paraded around these halls was enough to make her stomach turn. Seriously, I come from a noble family too but I manage to not be like… well, that!
She shot a disapproving glare at one noble in particular, spouting some nonsense or other about Rainbow Dash while the pony listening simply looked at him with a bored expression.
She refocused when she got outside, though. Twilight took a few seconds to enjoy the breeze and fresh air before continuing on her way. Celestia’s school would be on the street just across the drawbridge that connected the west castle courtyard to the city. It looked like the weather teams were putting together some rain clouds for later. Twilight frowned at this, but otherwise didn’t give it much thought.
The streets were busy as usual, chit-chat among the residents blurring together. Twilight scampered across the street and then smiled upon stepping onto campus grounds. She could see that there were a fair number of unicorns already making their way inside as well. Twilight felt her smile flicker only slightly when she spotted Moondancer approaching. Oh no… social activity.
“I was wondering when you’d get here,” Moondancer remarked with a friendly smile.
Twilight shrugged absently. “I had to work on Spike’s talking.”
“Makes sense. Is he getting better, at least?”
“Yes.” Twilight said nothing else before trotting past Moondancer for the school’s main entrance.
Moondancer frowned at Twilight’s lackluster response. While she was definitely used to Twilight being blunt and anti-social, that was a bit unusual. She trotted to catch up and fell into stride next to Twilight. “You okay? You seem a bit more out of it than usual.”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yes Moondancer, I’m sure. Just thinking about some stuff.” Twilight replied vaguely. Moondancer raised an eyebrow at that.
“Nothing new there.”
“Uh-huh.”
Moondancer sighed and fell silent. The two continued on with neither one breaking the silence. At last, they reached the classroom they would be using for the day’s work. Twilight found her seat and plonked herself down without much ceremony. The agitating jabbering of the nobles up in the castle was agitating her so much she missed it when Moondancer asked her a question from the seat next to hers.
“Uh, Twilight?” Moondancer tried again, poking Twilight in the shoulder to get her attention.
“Huh, What?” Twilight jumped slightly upon the physical contact. Moondancer’s frown deepened, but she repeated her question regardless.
“You’ve heard about Princess Celestia’s big announcement yesterday, right?”
“Yeah, I heard.” Twilight said, looking at the surface of the desk in front of her.
“What are your thoughts on it?” Moondancer asked, leaning back a bit to be more comfortable in her seat.
Twilight snorted. “I know I’m more okay with it than some other ponies I could mention...”
Moondancer flinched from the harshness in Twilight’s words. “Woah… who?”
“Nobles up in the castle,” Twilight replied with a groan. “A lot of them are looking at it purely from the perspective of what it does for their own power, or outright berating the act because it ‘lowers the Princesses status to adopt a peasant,’ blah blah blah. It’s frustrating.”
“Oh… so that’s what’s bothering you.” Moondancer deduced with a small nod.
“Yup.”
“Well, wanna know what I think?”
“Sure.” Twilight looked to Moondancer with some interest. If nothing else, the butter-colored filly was a fantastic intellectual peer.
“I think she made the right call. In her position, I can’t even begin to imagine the sorts of pressures the nobility and other such types put on Princess Celestia. A lot of what I know about the aristocratic part of Equestria’s government shows a stunning lack of morality or empathy. For Princess Celestia to adopt a previously unknown orphan filly with virtually no status… it shows the sort of kindness and moral fortitude Equestria needs to remember.”
Twilight nodded, actually impressed with the depth of Moondancer’s words. “You make a good point. I’d give my own but, well,” she pointed to show that Princess Celestia had just entered the room. “It’s time for us to be quiet.”
“Ah, right.”
Rainbow Dash was bored. Supremely so.
Twilight was off being taught by Princess Celestia down at that special school, meaning that the two ponies that Rainbow actually knew were not present. She still wasn’t feeling very social, either, so popping out to meet others wasn’t high on her list of priorities. It didn’t help that she was still very unaware of the usual customs and standards of Canterlot society.
Supposedly though, Celestia had arranged for Princess Cadence to come by and keep her company (and out of trouble, should they exit the castle for whatever reason), so there was that. It would help if Cadence would show up, though. Rainbow Dash stared blankly at the wall, unmoving and unblinking. Maybe if I sit here long enough, I’ll go insane and hallucinate the wall turning into a monster I could beat up.
A knocking came to the door a moment later, jarring Rainbow from her trance. She approached slowly and put her ear to the door. “Who is it?” She asked, worried it might be the press. She wouldn’t put it past them if some of them missed the notice to leave her alone.
“Princess Cadence. I’m speaking to Rainbow Dash, right?” came the gentle voice on the other side. Rainbow sighed in relief and opened the door.
“Took you long enough,” she said bluntly before flinching, remembering that she was in the presence of royalty. She then flinched even more upon remembering that she was also royalty. “Heh… Sorry about that. Been kinda on edge. Hiya.”
Cadence chuckled good-naturedly. “It’s alright, Rainbow. Princess Celestia filled me in when she asked for my help,” she knelt down slightly and ran a hoof over Dash’s mane. “Wow, you really don’t manage your appearance much, do you?”
“Uh, no, not really. I’m usually too focused on my flying and exercise to think about keeping my mane neat,” Rainbow replied, stepping back from Cadence’s touch.
Cadence took the hint and stood back up with an apologetic smile. “Aunty Celestia did mention you were quite the athlete back in Cloudsdale.”
“Uh-huh. Haven’t really been able to practice recently, though…” Rainbow nodded before looking away. “A lot’s been happening, you know?”
“Yeah, I heard,” Cadence’s smile softened somewhat. “Well, tell you what; my guidelines are simply to keep you company and out of trouble until Celestia gets back. How about we head on down to the west castle courtyard? You can practice your flying there without any interruptions.”
“Really?” Dash asked, excitement entering her voice. Her wings gave an excited buzz on her back.
“Really,” Cadence smiled warmly. “I’ll make sure you aren’t bothered. Sound good?”
“That. Sounds. Awesome!” Rainbow proclaimed enthusiastically, zipping into the air and cheering happily. Cadence giggled before reaching out to Rainbow with a hoof.
“Come on, then. Let’s go.”
Rainbow was only all too happy to oblige.
It was an amazing feeling, getting to spread her wings and fly again. For the first while she wasn’t even practicing any of her tricks, moves or working on her agility. Rainbow just enjoyed being in the air again before shifting back into practicing about half an hour after they reached the courtyard. Cadence smiled as she watched, more than a little impressed with Rainbow’s speed and agility. Even at her age she was faster than a lot of adult pegasi ever became.
After a while, Rainbow came back down for a quick breather. She set down and took a deep breath. “Whew! boy, it feels good to get the blood pumping again!” she said between breaths before sitting down in the grass next to Cadence.
Cadence smiled and ruffled Dash’s mane. “I imagine so. You’ve been cooped up for a while.”
Dash didn’t reply. She simply sat there and took a minute to catch her breath.
Cadence simply smiled at seeing the little filly feeling genuinely happy and relaxed. It was a very noticeable change from when they had met earlier, where Dash had been tense and jittery.
The mood was instantly broken, however, when she heard the sound of the most pompous colt she knew clearing his throat. Cadence glanced over her shoulder and refrained from grimacing at the sight of Prince Blueblood, who stood only a head taller than Rainbow did at this point.
The adolescent colt gave a respectful bow to Cadence. “Princess Cadence,” he then turned to look at Rainbow Dash, who was looking at him over her shoulder curiously. “And the newest addition to the royal family, Princess Rainbow Dash herself.”
“Ehhh…” Rainbow cringed at the use of her new title. “Please don’t call me ‘princess.’ Just my name is fine.”
“Oh?” Blueblood held a hoof to his chest in mock shock. “Truely? You must be aware of the power you now carry. Why would anypony want their status to be ignored?”
“Because I didn’t earn it,” Rainbow said plainly before looking back to Cadence, how was barely repressing a scowl. “Now, uh… do you mind going away?”
“Didn’t earn it?” Blueblood recoiled slightly. “You caught the eye of our nation's ruler! You have most certainly earned something grand for that alone! Besides, is it not a wonderful feeling to be lifted from the common rabble to a position of such privilege?”
Dash narrowed her eyes and stood up. Cadence moved to intervene, but Rainbow was already speaking. “Hey! Some of those ‘common rabble’ were my parents!”
“That doesn’t make them less common, you know.” Blueblood pointed out. Rainbow felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
Luckily, Cadence chose now to step in. She quickly put herself between Rainbow and Blueblood, glaring at the latter. “That’s quite enough, Blueblood. Where’s your father?”
“Father’s tending to some issue or other in the estate. Why?” Blueblood asked, looking at Cadence with mild concern.
Cadence narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. “Because I am sure Princess Celestia would like to have words with him-and you-later. Now leave us in peace.”
Blueblood nodded and quickly scampered away. Once he was out of sight, Cadence turned around to see Rainbow had sat back down, facing away. Her shoulders were hunched up and she was shaking from barely controlled rage.
“I’m sorry about him… Aunty will make sure he gets punished for that, I promise.” Cadence said gently, laying down next to Rainbow and wrapping a wing over her shoulders.
“...Jerk… how could he say that?” Rainbow muttered, sniffling slightly as her parents were returned to the forefront of her mind.
Cadence noticed the little filly’s turmoil and gingerly picked her up. “Shh, hey, it’s okay. Let’s get something for you to eat, okay? Then maybe we can find something to do around town. You know, to take your mind off of this?”
Rainbow sniffed, then nodded. “S-sure... yeah, that sounds cool, I guess…”
Cadence nodded slowly before spreading out her own wings and taking flight, heading for one of Canterlot’s numerous restaurant streets.