//------------------------------// // 7. Day One; Revelations // Story: Of Sky and Snow // by Kodeake //------------------------------// Of Sky and Snow Chapter 8 Day One; Revelations Fluttershy shifted awkwardly, glancing around at anything except the unicorn trotting next to her. They lagged behind their friends, just far enough away to have a quiet discussion with being overheard. “Something wrong, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, keeping her eyes trained on the butter yellow mare. She had a hunch, but felt it best to avoid making any assumptions. Sigh, Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know if I should be telling you this; Rainbow would probably be mad at me. But… she’s already gotten hurt.” Chewing her lip a moment, she hardened her eyes as a decision was reached. “Rainbow’s never been snowboarding before.” Twilight nodded slowly. “I know.” “You know?” “It was pretty obvious when I saw how she crashed. She looked like she’d never even seen a snowboard before.,” Twilight explained, “She’s just lucky the other girls didn’t notice. I asked her about it when I took her back to our room, and she said she wanted to impress them.” Fluttershy finally met Twilight’s thoughtful gaze. “Them?” She echoed. The unicorn nodded with a grunt. “I know; something doesn’t add up to me either. I mean… I guess it makes sense for her to brag about something like that, but she must have known we’d find out. I don’t know, something about it feels off.” She looked up thoughtfully, as though the clouds would answer her questions. “I… um…I don’t know,” the pegasus shrunk behind mer mane slightly as they rounded the final corner to the corrisor with their rooms, most of the girls having finished inside with the exception of Scootaloo waiting in the hall. “Twilight!” The filly cried, hopping up as her wings buzzed excitedly. “There you are! Do you have the key? I tried knocking but Rainbow won’t answer.” Twilight smirked, pulling her room key out of a zipped pocket in her magic. “Napping, if I know her.” As soon as the door was unlocked Scootaloo rushed in, calling for the no-doubt snoozing pegasus to wake up. “Listen, Twilight,” Fluttershy called the attention back to herself. “I probably shouldn’t be the one telling you this, but I hate seeing her like this. She wasn’t trying to impress the girls; she was trying to impress you.” “Me?” Twilight echoed curiously. “I know she’s difficult to deal with sometimes, but give her time. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.” Before Twilight could ask about the somewhat cryptic message the pegasus disappeared into the door of her own room, leaving the unicorn to wonder as she did the same. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo was all but shouting now, stood next to the couch where Twilight had left the cyan pegasus that morning. Telltale snores emanating from behind the armrest. She rolled her eyes, using her magic and lifting Scootaloo in a magenta glow. The filly gave her a confused look, but it soon morphed to an eager grin as she was levitated above the sleeping mare. Sharing a nod, Twilight shared Scootaloo’s mischievous grin as her magic released and the orang filly was dropped on top of Rainbow, accompanied by her loudest shout yet. “Oof!” Rainbow gasped as the air was pushed out of her lungs, eyes flying open and coming face to familiar face. “Scoots?” She wheezed, blinking blearily. Twilight finished depositing her gear in the closet, coming and standing next to the couch. “Time for lunch, sleepyhead,” she deadpanned as Scootaloo jumped down and stood next to her. “How’s the ankle?” The pegasus groaned, rolling her hoof. “Stiff, but it doesn’t hurt.” “How’d you crash?” Scootaloo asked, almost eagerly. “I bet it was doing something awesome. Like.. like.. A triple front flip or… or a-” “Just trying a new trick,” Rainbow was quick to cut off the filly’s wild speculation before she asked to actually see the trick. “Didn’t work out.” Twilight smiled lightly. “Scootaloo, why don’t you go make sure everypony’s ready to go? I need to check and make sure her leg is healing properly.” The filly pouted, but when Rainbow motioned for her to go she didn’t argue. When the door clicked shut a moment later the pegasus sat up a little straighter. “Alright Twi; do what you gotta do.” “Hmm? Oh, no; I just wanted to talk to you alone. You’re ankle’s fine.” Rainbow could already feel her anxiety building. Twilight wanting to talk, alone, was never a good sign, as far as she was concerned. “O-oh? What about?” “Something Fluttershy told me.” Twilight sat back on her haunches, carefully studying the panicked expression that grew on the mare’s face. “She told me you didn’t know how to snowboard, which we already figured out. But… she also said I was the one you were trying to impress, not the girls, and that you’d talk to me when you were ready. Do you know what she meant?” That traitor! Rainbow hissed in her head, glaring daggers at the wall in front of her - very pointedly not looking to the unicorn growing worryingly close to her secret. “I uh… don’t have a clue… heh heh… heh…” Twilight sighed. “So she was right,” she shook her head, frowning to herself. “Look; I’m not going to force you to tell me anything you don’t want to. But I will remind you; you can tell me anything. Just like I told you before we left the library; we will always be friends, no matter what.” “I…” Rainbow found herself without the words to express herself, meating Twilight’s look for the first time since she’d came back to the room. Those purple eyes held no lies, and she could almost feel the last barrier she had breaking down. She looked away forcefully, biting her lip. “O-okay Twi. I… I’ll tell you when I’m ready, okay?” “That’s all I ask, Rainbow,” Twilight said, giving a small smile. There was a moment of silence that was broken by knocking at their door. “Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo’s voice called. “Everypony’s ready to go to lunch!” Rainbow twisted her head and shouted to the door, “We’ll be out in a minute squirt!” She looked back to Twilight, nodding towards her legs. “I’ll be okay to walk around?” “Should be,” she nodded, offering a hoof to help Rainbow up. “If it starts to hurt let me know, but if I cast that spell right we won’t have any problems. Accepting the offered hoof Rainbow grinned. “Oh, well then I have nothing to worry about. I trust you when it comes to that stuff.” Twilight blushed at the compliment. “C-come on; we shouldn’t keep the girls waiting.” They left the room to find the rest of the girls waiting in the hall, Cutie Mark Crusaders included. Scootaloo was on Rainbow Dash in an instant, flitting about with a barrage of questions about her crash and the trick that caused it, the filly’s mental image of it already far beyond the realms of possibility. And physics, Twilight noted. She also noted the venomous glare Rainbow adopted when she and Fluttershy locked eyes, the shy mare shrinking back only slightly. “Come along, darlings,” Rarity announced, noticing that their group was complete. “Our dear Fluttershy has found us a wonderful little cafe.” Taking the hint, Fluttershy slunk to the froward of the group and started leading them to the promise of food, Rarity trotting alongside her with Spike and Sweetie Belle trailing her. Applejack fell in behind them with Applebloom next to her, gushing about how awesome snowboarding must be. Twilight, meanwhile, grabbed Rainbow by the shoulder before she could follow the group. “Hey, go easy on Fluttershy; I may not know what’s going on but she only told me anything because she’s worried about you,” she chided lightly. Rainbow huffed. “She promised she wouldn’t say anything.” “She wanted to stop you from hurting yourself any worse than you already have,” Twilight pointed out, noticing the slight limp in the pegasus’s walk as they moved to catch up with the rest. “I shoulda’ made her Pinkie Promise,” Rainbow muttered, straightening her gait. Twilight frowned at the back of her head, but apparently the conversation was officially over, as Rainbow kept walking. She sighed, shaking her head. The mare was as stubborn as always, it seemed. It turned out the cafe wasn’t that far from their rooms; only a few buildings over. It had both indoor and outdoor seating, with the outside tables sitting on a patio from which there was an unobstructed view up the slopes and the surrounding mountain range. The sun had finally moved out from behind the peak, marching slowly across the sky and warming the air from ‘chilled’ to ‘comfortable’, though most ponies still wore coats. The group was lucky enough to happen upon a fairly empty establishment, allowing the staff to assemble them a table large enough for everypony to sit at. Conversation was constantly buzzing around them, mostly about their experiences on the slopes. Three fillies in particular seemed eager to try it out for themselves, and even Rainbow seemed a little more relaxed, embellishing her crash to make it seem like she was trying something difficult. “I’m gonna try snowboarding!” Scootaloo announced excitedly, practically hanging off her idol’s every word. “Me too!” Applebloom agreed, doing much the same to her sister. Applejack chuckled. “We’ll see about getting you girls set up tomorrow; me an’ the girls are still learning ourselves, you know.” Twilight perked up. “You know, if you filles want to learn there’s a class we could sign you up for; it’d only be half a day, but it’d get you three to a point where you could at least make it down the smaller hills.” “That ain’t a bad idea, Twi,” Applejack agreed thoughtfully. “What do ya think, Applebloom?” The smaller filly nodded eagerly, as did her friends. “Alright, I’ll make sure to sign you girls up for a class tomorrow.” Applejack grinned mischievously. “Maybe you should sign Rainbow up for one of them too, while you’re at it.” Rainbow jolted slightly in her seat, but Twilight surreptitiously placed a hoof on her thigh under the table, holding her back. “She’s not the only one who crashed today,” Twilight quipped, feeling the tension slowly leave the pegasus’s body and removing her hoof only when she was sure Rainbow wouldn’t lash out in an attempt to cover up her blunder. “Also, last I checked, I won our little race.” The farm mare snorted, crossing her fore legs and leaning back in her chair. “Ain’t my fault the dang board couldn’t go as fast as I wanted to.” Twilight chuckled. “It’s not the board’s fault you couldn’t keep balanced.” “My my, it seems we have another Rainbow Dash on our hooves after all,” Rarity tutted, sipping on a steaming cup of tea. “Who knew Twilight had a competitive side?” The lavender unicorn blushed slightly, shrinking back in her seat. “I can’t help it; my brother and I used to race all the time. It’s… habit, I guess.” Rarity chuckled. “It’s fine, dear; just a bit of teasing, is all. Though I have to admit I’m quite curious now: Who was faster?” Twilight blushed even more. “I was, usually,” she admitted, her voice growing small as she struggled to avoid sounding boastful. “But Shiny was always better at the jumps. I once saw him do a double backflip.” Applejack spit out the drinks he was sipping on. “Two backflips!? On that flimsy hunk of wood!?” “I know; I could only ever do one,” Twilight admitted, though by the looks on her friend's faces they were equally impressed with that accomplishment. “No way, Twi can do a backflip?” Rainbow asked eagerly, sitting up in her chair. “Are you secretly awesome and you’ve just been hiding it from us?” “Hey!” She frowned, unable to keep the slight offence out of her tone. “I’m plenty awesome without my skiing, thank you very much!” Rainbow rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… nah. Cool? Maybe. Awesome? I dunno, Twi; you’ve got some cool things going for ya, with the magic and everything. But the skiing is about your only point in the awesome category. You do have some amazing points to make up for it, though.” “Those are all synonymous!” Twilight shouted, gesticulating at the pegasus wildly. “Syno-what?” She sighed, slapping a hoof to her forehead as a chorus of giggles rose up from their table. “They all mean the same thing, Dash.” “What? No they don’t,” Rainbow defended, as though it was common knowledge. “Awesomeness, amazingness and coolness are different things. That’s why they’re different words.” “That… never mind,” Twilight sighed, giving up the point. Applejack chuckled. “Well, you’ll definitely have to show us those skills o’ yours some time. I don’t think I’m the only one curious.” She received a round of nods from the table, and Twilight once again felt all eyes focus on her. “I uhh… well,” she faltered, stumbling over her words. “I guess?” she squeaked out. Clearing her throat after hearing herself, Twilight channeled the competitive spirit her brother had given her. “After we get you girls good enough to come down the bigger runs with me I could show you my… uh, what did you call it? Awesomeness?” “You should show us what you can do too, darling,” Rarity added, looking to Rainbow. “I bet Scootaloo would love to see some tricks, hmm?” The filly lit up instantly, grinning widely. Rainbow Dash froze for an imperceptible moment, before chuckling awkwardly. “I uh…” Once again, Twilight saved her as the unicorn piped up; “Actually, Rainbow decided she was going to give skiing a try. She might know how to snowboard but I wouldn’t recommend anything like that her first time on skis.” Though the news was taken with no small amount of surprise, Rainbow’s lie had been protected. She smiled nervously, nodding along with Twilight’s cover story. “Heh… yeah. I dunno; I guess snowboarding wasn’t all I remember it being. I uh… figured I’d try something new?” “Awww! But I wanted to see something awesome!” Scootaloo pouted, though it lasted only a moment before she realized what she’d implied. “I-I mean, I bet you’ll be just as awesome on skis!” Applejack didn’t seem as convinced. “Really? Y’all are telling me you’re going to give up on snowboarding just like that? What, that crash scare ya?” Rainbow bristled at the perceived insult. “I’m not scared,” she growled lowly. The air around them quickly thickened with tension, the small, side conversations died off quickly as everypony focused on the farm mare and the pegasus. Rainbow was glaring daggers at her, but Applejack didn’t let her suspicious look fall. “Then why the sudden change of pace? I thought you loved to show off.” “Appleja-” Twilight tried to cut in a defuse the situation, but was cut off. “Applejack!” Fluttershy called suddenly, her voice not loud but still demanding attention. “Rainbow can do whatever she wants; stop trying to rile her up just because you think it’s strange. Shame on you,” she admonished, her glare gradually softening as Applejack hung her head slightly. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, I just-” “You could use some more tact, darling,” Rarity agreed as Fluttershy relaxed back in her chair, seemingly becoming a different pony as her shy nature returned. The farm mare sighed. “Fine. Sorry,” she muttered, pointedly looking away from the table as she dipper her stetson to hide her eyes. Rainbow opened her mouth venom on her tongue, but was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. She looked over to see Twilight simply shake her head, and felt herself deflate. “It’s fine.” Silence hung around them for a few tense moments, before Rarity, ever composed, cleared her throat, “Well then, if we’re all done eating?” She glanced around at the series of empty plates. “I must admit, I’m rather eager to get back out on the hills. There’s something strangely… alluring, to this skiing thing.” Twilight glanced to the sun, nodding. “I have been craving a good, long run all day. FLuttershy? Could you make sure Rainbow gets back to our room okay?” “I’m not a foal, Twi,” Rainbow muttered, already climbing out of her seat. “I have the key; I’ll be fine.” Fluttershy stood as well. “If it’s okay with everypony, I’m going to take the girls to get their equipment and see about those classes?” The crusaders all eagerly shouted their approval, quickly gathering around the butter yellow pegasus. Twilight nodded. “If you’re sure, Rainbow. Alright, Fluttershy; if you need anything we’ll be on the hill; just wait around by the lift for us to come down.” With that the bill was paid and they left the cafe as a group, stopping in shortly at their rooms to gather their gear before heading back out to the slopes. Rainbow was seen off with fond waves and smiles, wishing her a swift recovery. Some time later - hours, days, years? She couldn’t tell - Rainbow found herself glaring daggers at an unassuming white ceiling. Sleep had eluded her for the most part, her new book was already finished, and she’d preened her wings three times since her crash, with every feather in perfect working order. “Stupid Applejack,” she grumbled, fidgeting as half a day of laying around doing nothing caught up with her. “I can ski if I want!” Somewhat predictably, the room didn’t answer, but that hardly stopped her. “And you, Fluttershy! How could you tell her!?” She felt… betrayed. By one of her closest friends, no less! And why shouldn’t she? Fluttershy had promised to keep her secret. So what if Rainbow had been hurt trying to keep it? So what if she was probably going to do it again if Twilight hadn’t seen through her ruse? “Okay… maybe Fluttershy has a point,” she muttered, rolling her hoof and feeling the tell-tale stiffness lingering from the spell. “But still!” Finally getting fed up with stagnating, Rainbow rolled off the couch and, to her own surprise, started pacing. “Why does this have to be so hard? I mean… it’s Twilight, for Celestia’s sake! Nerdy, bookworm Twilight… who is apparently awesome at skiing?” She shook her head forcefully, continuing to walk circles around the room. Which probably wasn’t all that good an idea; she could feel a slight soreness bleeding into her ankle. “Why can’t I just tell her how I feel? Just walk up to her and say; ‘hey, Twi, I know we’re really great friends and you probably don’t think about me that way at all, but do you wanna, like, date?’” Rainbow laughed almost bitterly, shaking her head sadly. “Yeah right; I can’t even admit to not knowing how to snowboard.” She could practically hear Applejack’s voice in her head, taunting her. You scared? “Yes!” She shouted, stomping her hooves as she came to a stop. “I’m scared! I can’t even tell the mare of my dreams how I feel about her, and instead of doing anything about it I’m sitting here feeling sorry for myself! I’m so sick of this!” Rainbow slumped to her haunches, hanging her head. “Just once, I’d like to be able to tell Twilight how I feel. I don’t care if she never wants to talk to me again. I don’t care if she’s not comfortable being friends anymore. I just need to get this off my chest, but I can’t. I can’t take risking what we already have like that. Celestia, I’m such a coward.” “You’re not a coward, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow’s eyes went wide. She knew that voice, better than any other. Slowly, fearfully, her head turned. Standing there in the doorway, a small, gentle smile on her lips, stood a purple unicorn. “T-Twilight… I-”