Chapter 2
But I’m a Pegasus!
“Help me, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash begged. “I live on a cloud! How do I raise a pony with no wings?”
Recovering from her initial shock, Twilight managed to answer.
“Same way you’d raise one with wings.” She said, still staring at Rainshine.
“But I’m a Pegasus!” Rainbow protested.
“And?” Twilight said calmly, breaking her gaze away from the filly to meet Rainbow’s panicked eyes. “I’m not seeing how that makes a difference.”
Rainbow Dash gaped at her friend.
“I’m...a Pegasus.” She said slowly. “My child...is a Unicorn. I live on a cloud. Pegasi can walk on clouds. Unicorns can not--”
“Okay, okay, I get the idea.” Twilight interrupted. “And you know, there is a spell that allows non-Pegasi to walk on clouds.”
“But is it permanent?” Rainbow asked, sounding anxious.
“No.” Twilight admitted. “But I’m sure there’s some way to make it last certain amounts of time. You’d just have to come back to me now and then to get the spell refreshed.”
“Oh.” Rainbow seemed to relax a little bit. “That’s….actually not a bad idea. Thanks, Twi.”
“No problem.” Twilight sighed. “Now if you excuse me, I have a very busy day ahead. I can help you later this afternoon, when I have a break in the schedule…..”
“Actually…there is just one more problem.” Rainbow Dash hedged.
“Oh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What now?”
“HOW DO YOU RAISE A FREAKING UNICORN?” Rainbow’s yell took Twilight by surprise, and she flinched, covering her ears with her wings. “I’M A FREAKING PEGASUS!”
“Rainbow, I literally just told you this--you raise a Unicorn the same way you would a Pegasus.” Twilight groaned. “Also, you may have just made your children deaf for life--”
“But what if I’m terrible at raising children in general?” Rainbow sounded like she was panicking again. “Heck—I flew through a window carrying my three week old twins! That’s terrible! I’m a terrible parent! What am I going to do? Should I pick up a book on parenting? Probably! Where was I going with this? I had a point.”
“RAINBOW.” Twilight said loudly. “RELAX.”
Rainbow Dash blinked, looking surprised that Twilight existed and was still in the room.
“Deep breaths.” Twilight advised. “You will not fail.”
“I...will...not...fail….” Rainbow repeated slowly, staring blankly into space.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re a Pegasus.” Twilight continued, trying to keep her voice steady and calm. “You will be perfectly fine.”
“Right. Of course.” Rainbow shook her head, looking confused. “What was talking about?”
“How you’d raise Rainshine?” Twilight suggested.
“Oh. Right. Well, the same way I’d raise Thunder, of course. …..I think.”
“Excellent!” Twilight smiled. “Well, that’s settled. Now I’m really sorry, but I need to get to work. I have a really busy day ahead of me. In the afternoon I can get back to you--”
“Wait, Twilight!” Rainbow begged. “Can I just stay with you for the day? Maybe you can help me with Rainshine? I know baby Unicorns are prone to random surges of magic…..please help?”
Twilight sighed. Rainbow was giving her puppydog eyes, something she must have learned from Scootaloo.
She had made time to help Rainbow later—now, she had things to do.
“I...I really don’t know.” She admitted. “Couldn’t you talk to another one of our friends? Someone else who has raised a?—oh.”
“Exactly.” Rainbow urged. “You’re the only pony I know well enough to ask for help who has raised a Unicorn. Can you help? ……………..Please?”
“Fine. I’ll do my best.” Twilight decided, letting out another sigh. “But I do have some other things to do today. I’ll help you as best as I can.”
“THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH.” This time, Rainbow’s yell startled her twins, and they started up thin, high wails.
“Oh, no!” Rainbow bit her lip, looking scared. “Was it me? What do I do?”
“They’re just scared.” Twilight assured her. “You may need to consider lowering your voice more often. Just...rock them.”
“Oh. Okay.” As Rainbow Dash set about awkwardly swaying in place, Twilight realized her friend needed more help than she let on.
“Twilight?” Spike’s head appeared in the doorway. “Mayor Mare is here.”
“Okay, thanks.” Twilight sighed. “Tell her I’ll be with her shortly.” Spike nodded and disappeared again.
“Rainbow, feel free to use the library or something while I’m busy.” Twilight said. “Also, you can probably call for Flash or Spike if you need any help. I’ll get this over with as quickly as I can, then I’ll teach you everything I know about parenting Unicorns. Okay?”
“Yeah, got it. Thanks so much for your help, Twi.” Rainbow gave her a grateful smile. “I really, really need it.”
You can say that again, Twilight thought, but she didn’t say anything. She gave Rainbow a nod and a tight smile before slipping down the hallway to the throne room, where the Mayor would be waiting.
“Thanks for waiting, Miss Mare.” Twilight said as she entered to find the aforementioned pony standing by the magical table.
“Of course, your highness.” The Mayor smiled, gesturing to the map. “I was just admiring your decorations.”
“Ah, of course.” Twilight trotted over to the table, looking over the magically added décor. “As you can see, we stressed on the idea of apples being the major decoratory function.”
“That would make sense.” The Mayor agreed. “Also, Applejack has agreed to perform the traditional Apple family harvest song with her son.”
“That’s excellent!” Twilight gave a relieved smile. “Next, we should--”
A loud roaring, tumbling noise drowned her next words. It sounded as if a miniature avalanche was going off in the next room.
“SWEET CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT?” Mayor Mare shouted, falling over as the ground began to shake. With a flap of her wings, Twilight hovered over the trembling floor, staring at the doors. They quivered in their frames, puzzling her. What was in the hallway?
With a creaking, rumbling snap, the doors popped neatly off their hinges, sending splinters flying. A flood of books poured through the door, rolling like a tidal wave. Twilight was instantly transported back to bad memories of one particular Grand Galloping Gala.
She swooped down and landed next to the Mayor in the lick of time, creating a magical shield that protected them both from the tsunami of paper sweeping over them. After a few minutes, the flow seemed to slow down, before finally coming to a gradual halt.
“What….happened?” Mayor Mare asked, staring wide-eyed at the catastrophe that surrounded them.
“I have no idea.” Twilight admitted. She flapped her wings again and rose into the air, still maintaining the shield around them. The Mayor was lifting too, slipping and sliding along the bottom of the bubble, unable to keep her footing.
As soon as they rose above the books, Twilight was startled with Rainbow hovering just above them, an anxious expression on her face.
Rainbow said something—Twilight could see her lips moving, but the magical bubble was soundproof. It looked like “sorry”, though.
“I can’t hear you!” Twilight yelled.
Rainbow cocked her head to the side, looking confused, and she said something else.
“I CAN’T—oh, this is useless.” Twilight sighed. “Miss Mare, if you excuse me, I need to leave this shield so I can clear us some space.”
“Of course, your highness.” The Mayor nodded, watching the books below with a slightly nervous expression.
“Okay, here goes.” Twilight took a deep breath and created a small hole in the bubble, just large enough for her to squeeze out.
“Twilight, I am so so sorry.” Rainbow said as soon she was out of the shield. “You see, I had no idea--”
“Hang on a quick second, Rainbow.” Twilight said, closing her eyes. There was a flash of magenta light, and a small ripple of power, like a sonic boom, spread from Twilight. It pushed the books away, uncovering the table and creating a small amount of space within the room.
“Okay.” Twilight landed, finally able to drop the magic holding the shield in place. Mayor Mare dropped gracelessly onto the ground, landing on her face. Twilight helped her up, apologizing, then gave her attention to Rainbow.
“What happened?” She asked.
“It...was Rainshine.” Rainbow Dash ducked her head, looking sheepish. “I went to the library to look up some books on Unicorn foals, and Rainshine seemed fascinated by the shelves...then I don’t know what happened, the bookshelves crashed over and the books started flooding the room.”
Twilight sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hoof.
The day had barely started and already she had a headache.
“I take it the hallways between here and the library are choked with paper?” She guessed.
Rainbow gave a tiny, reluctant nod.
“Okay. I’ll need to find some way to clean that up….” Twilight bit her lip. “Where are the twins now?”
“Spike agreed to watch them while I checked on you.” Rainbow informed her. “I really am so sorry—I’ll find some way to help you clean up.”
“That would certainly be appreciated.” Twilight turned back to the Mayor. “Miss Mare, you have no idea how sorry I am.”
“It’s no matter.” The Mayor waved a hoof, smiling sympathetically. “We can discuss this later. After all, the Ciderfest is not for several weeks. We have some time to breath.”
“You have no idea how excellent that is to hear.” Twilight let out a slow exhale. “Now I can clean up this mess. Thank you for your time.”
“Of course. We can schedule a time to meet some other day.” Miss Mare assured her. “I see you have your hooves full today.”
Twilight made a sound that was somewhere between a forced laugh and a desperate groan. With a spark of her horn, she used magic to push aside the books and clear a path to the door. The Mayor waved and departed.
As soon as she disappeared, Twilight collapsed on the floor, burying her face in her forelegs.
“Um….” Rainbow hovered over her awkwardly. “…….sorry?”