The next few days passed in a routine blur. With our work done for the day, Rainbow and I were walking through the town square to our favourite practicing spot. I cast my eyes around at the new decorations marking the stalls with a slight scowl. There wasn't anything extravagant, but it seemed like every place of business was getting on board the Hearts and Hooves Day hype train.
At least it's only a week or so off. I shook my head. Not like how it was back home. Advertising at least a moon ahead for Thanksgiving, and then riding the fucking holidays right through Valentine's Day... Fuck, the materialism of humans went way too far. I glanced at the horizon. How'd my cousin say it? Oh, right: 'I wish the world really was flat, then I could just yeet myself off the edge.'
"The hell does that word even mean?"
I don't know, wasn't my generation.
"But, you're first gen, right?"
I smiled. Eh, that's a good one! I put my pessimistic thoughts to the side as Rainbow held a hoof out in front of me.
Once she was sure she had my attention, she pointed of down a side street. "Isn't that Thunderlane?"
I squinted. <<Yeah, that is.>> I looked a little closer and saw something on his back. <<Oh, who's the chocolate for?>>
Rainbow and I shared a look, matching grins spread across our faces. "Let's find out!" With that goal set, we made our way to the nervous stallion. Rainbow spoke up as we drew near. "Hey, Thunderlane! What'cha got there?"
Re~al subtle there, Rainbow...
The stallion in question jumped about a foot into the air, fumbling to keep his cargo balanced. Once the heart shaped box was secure, he turned to us with a strained smile. "Oh, hey, uh, f-fancy meeting you here. Nice weather today, huh?"
I snickered as Rainbow replied. "Yeah, it's almost like we made it."
"Oh, uh, right." Thunderlane carefully took a step back. "You guys, um, out shopping for a special somepony?"
"Nope." Rainbow shook her head with a smile. "Don't got one. No pony can really keep up with me, anyways. Living too much in the fast lane." She pointed at the box on his back. "Who are you shopping for?"
Thunderlane began to blush while trying to avoid eye contact. "...Moon Dancer..." He mumbled out.
"Sorry, couldn't catch that." Rainbow tilted her ears forward.
"Moon Dancer..." He mumbled again, his blush growing.
Rainbow and I shared a look. "You've been taking lessons from Fluttershy? Ya gotta speak up, colt!"
"Moon Dancer!" Thunderlane managed to squeak out. I started yipping and ran under him, causing him to freeze up. "... She's behind me, isn't she?"
"Nope." Rainbow said through her chuckles.
"Oh good," he sighed, "I was worried for a moment there."
"If you don't have the Purdy's Daffodils, you should be." Twilight stated, trotting past with me on her back. "They're her favourite."
Thunderlane's pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "Oh, crabapples." He swore, before booking it down the street.
I hopped from Twilight's back to Rainbow's as the lavender mare excused herself to continue her errands. Rainbow and I continued on to the town's outskirts.
Once we reached our favourite workout clearing, we began our warm up routine. since I had less muscles to stretch out, I was finished first. I shook out my fur as I eyed the trees to determine the one I wanted to use for today's exercises. I settled on one that appeared to have the most branches, figuring that I would work on my evasion today. I bolted to the top of the tree, dodging around the branches with as small a margin as I could, before free falling back down through the wooden mass.
Several passes later, I decided to switch trees. In mid-fall, I launched myself off the bark of the tree I was using with a crack, smashing through a thin branch on my target tree. Noting the falling branch end, I tried to strip the leaves off the branch as it fell. I managed to get most of the ten leaves when a sickening crack resounded through the air. I looked around, finally seeing our small audience, but I ignored them in favor for the groaning mound of cyan fur and feathers.
<<Rainbow!>> I cried rushing to her side. I carefully nudged her muzzle, slipping under a foreleg as I did so. <<Rainbow, stay with me Rainbow. Please stay awake. The medical ponies are on their way>> I whimpered as my mare's eyes briefly flickered open. I stayed by her side, Flailing against the medical ponies when they tried to remove me.
I lay at Rainbow's side as she tried to pass the time. We knew that we would be stuck here for a few days while the healing magic worked on Rainbow's wing. Said wing had been numbed so that she wouldn't unconsciously move it and disrupt the mending mana.
I watched as the ball bounced out of Rainbow's reach. I could feel her glare start to burn into my back.
"Well?" Rainbow growled. "You gonna fetch?"
<<Nope.>> I chirped. <<I just know that the moment that I leave this bed, is the moment that the orderlies kick me out.>>
"Really?" Rainbow deadpanned.
<<Almost everyone here is a unicorn or an earth pony.>> I glanced at Rainbow. <<While I can run circles around the earth ponies all day, I know that they'll only need one unicorn to remove me.>> I flopped my head against Rainbow's barrel. <<... I hate psychic types.>>
Rainbow snorted as she began rubbing my head. "So, what else can I do?"
Our neighbor gave his muffled opinion, but his bandages made it impossible to understand.
<<There's always that book...?>> I pressed. Rainbow shot me another glare. <<Hey, it's something to pass the time. Besides you can always just read it to me. I really want to know why Twilight would recommend it.>>
Rainbow leaned down to whisper. "I thought you said you could read?"
<<Not Equish.>> I looked up at her. <<Please, Rainbow. For me?>>
With a drawn out 'fine', Rainbow dug out the book, and began to read. I could be biased, but I think she has a fantastic reading voice. The mummy in the room seemed to think so, although he could've just been bored. Rainbow quickly found herself engrossed in the book, to the point that I had to poke her a couple of times so that she would keep reading out loud. Sadly, we were interrupted far too soon. Twilight and Fluttershy came by with what I assumed to be the pony equivalent to Battleship. I could see Rainbow quickly grow frustrated that her friends weren't leaving us so that she could keep reading.
Before she could throw the game, I took things into my own paws. Holding the book carefully in my mouth, I let my tail sadly tamp against the mattress, letting out the most pathetic whimper that I could.
"Oh," Fluttershy rose a hoof to cover her slight smile, "Did we interrupt something?"
Rainbow leaned back, affecting a nonchalant attitude. "Eh, she wouldn't quit bugging me until I read it to her." She chuckled. "Now she won't let me stop."
Twilight glanced at me with a knowing look. "Right, she doesn't want to stop. Well, this is only the first book in the series, and I do have the rest of the series back at the library..." She let the words hang. "If she wants you to, you can always borrow the rest from me. We, I mean, she and I could always trade theories."
Fluttershy and Twilight shared a look, before the timid mare spoke up. "I guess we'll just forfeit this game so that you two can get back to this. Do you mind if Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack join you for dinner? I can ask them to be quick so that you can keep reading... to Leo." She added the last two words almost like an afterthought.
"Sure." Rainbow agreed. "Though I don't know how long she'll give me to eat." She weakly chuckled. She turned to me after the two mares left. "Great idea, playing distraction. They didn't suspect a thing!"
Sure they didn't. I thought as I settled in for more story time. I could've sworn that our roommate rolled his eyes.
It was the day after Rainbow was released, and I stopped her from breaking into the hospital with a reminder of Twilight's promise. Now, in the early morning hours, we were standing outside Golden Oaks' door.
"... And our workout routine? Where are we going to fit reading into that?" Rainbow fretted. She wasn't actually trying to prevent us from reading, only from entering the library.
<<If nothing else, we could just find time before bed.>>
"But what if she doesn't have the next book?"
I arched an eyebrow at that. <<Twilight, the Queen of all Eggheads, won't have a book from a series she likes?>> I scoffed. <<Small wonder why you're still just the Knave.>>
"Hey!" Rainbow barked.
"Hey, yourself." Spike said, leaning against the door frame, one claw behind his back. "You gonna come in, or just keep stalling all day?"
"Um, yeah." Rainbow coughed in embarrassment. "Actually, I'm just here for a book, I'll be out of your scales in just a moment. I- we really want to finish it and... Yeah."
"Uhuh." Spike wasn't fooled. "You don't read books, you're an athlete. You have to be an impostor. Don't know how you fooled Leo, but-"
"Gah!" Rainbow almost choked on her frustration. "I just want to know how Daring gets out of Ahuizotl's death trap and gets away with the Statue!" She nearly yelled. Spike and I smirked as her brain caught up with her words. "Uh, I mean, um, Leo wants to know, and..." I watched as Rainbow's final defensive walls crumbled away. "Oh, buck it. I couldn't put the book down at the hospital, and I need to know how it ends. The fact that Leo likes them is a bonus."
"See," Spike said as he moved his hidden claw, and the coveted book, into view, "that wasn't so hard. And, once you've finished this series, I've got a couple of others I could recommend to you, too."
Rainbow sighed as she carefully retrieved the book. "Yeah, yeah. Rub it in."
<<Like the massages I got you to try.>> Rainbow lightly smacked me with her tail, since she couldn't tell me to shut up.