//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Happy Anniversary, Rainbow Dash // by Axolotl222 //------------------------------// “Oh Spike, I love it!,” Rarity beamed as Spike handed her the large diamond that he had found. The two were in a cave jewel hunting together. “It’s so pretty.” “Not as pretty as you,” Spike said. Suddenly a large and aggressive cave bat appeared behind Rarity.  “Rarity, look out!” Before the monster could harm his love he leapt into the air. His fist collided with the bat’s chest, causing the creature to explode from impact. “Oh Spikey-boo! Without your strength, wit, and determination I would not have made it!” “Yeah! You have shown real maturity tonight Spike. I am very proud of you,” Twilight said, having suddenly appeared in the cave. “Aw, thanks Twilight,” Spike said. Twilight then turned around and left.  “So… where were we?,” he said while leaning in for a kiss. Before their lips could meet a rumbling was heard. Spike looked up in time to see the ceiling of the cave buckle and collapse.  “GAAAH!” Spike bolted upright, trying in vain to remove the banner that had fallen on his head.  “Ops,” the mare of his dreams said. Rarity then pulled the banner off his head with her magic before folding it and setting it down on the table neatly. “Sorry Spikey dear. I didn’t mean to wake you.” The door then burst open, and Twilight stormed into the room, panting furiously. Applejack and Fluttershy, who were busy tearing down decorations, froze. “Okay. Somepony better tell me what in the name of Celestia you girls are up to!” “Twilight, wait!,” Pinkie said as she galloped into the room, Rainbow Dash flying close beside her.  “Pinkie,” Twilight said, shutting her eyes tightly and messaging her temple with her hoof. “We can talk about my sore bottom later.” “What!?,” Spike asked. Twilight’s eyes popped open, a heat rising in her cheeks. “That...ah, that came out wrong.”  “What came out wrong?,” Pinkie said. Twilight and Spike immediately went silent.  “ Pinkie,” Rainbow hissed. “What? What did she say?”  Nopony moved. It was as if Twilight and Spike were competing to see who could turn redder. Finally Rainbow muttered something under her breath, then flew over to whisper something in Pinkie’s ear. Her eyes widened.  “Oooooooh,” Pinkie said. Then she smiled. “I get it!” She slid across the room and jumped into Spike’s seat, pulling the drake onto her lap and putting  her foreleg around his shoulders. “Don’t worry Spike, I get that you’re confused, but don’t worry, your auntie Pinkie will explain everything.” She put her foreleg around his shoulders. She cleared her throat. “You see, when a mommy and a daddy love each very m-” “PINKIE!,” Twilight shouted. She levitated Spike off her lap and sent a balloon off the floor over to Pinkie. “Here. Play with this.” She experimentally swatted the balloon with a hoof. It sailed a few feet into the air. Pinkie giggled and bounced off the throne chasing after it. “Alright, now where were we…?” Twilight trailed off. Suddenly she was glaring at Applejack, causing the mare to fidget nervously.  “Applejack?” Applejack swallowed. “Um… yes?” “Would you mind telling me exactly what you girls are doing here,exactly? I know you wouldn’t lie to me.” Twilight had added that last part with a sadistic grin. Applejack shuddered despite the beads of sweat on her forehead. “Oh, uh, well, um…” Applejack’s eyes darted around. “Ah… we were…”  Applejack removed her stetson and clutched it to her chest the way a foal would with a teddy bear. “We, uh… “ “Twi,” Rainbow Dash said quietly. Any anger Twilight felt evaporated when she saw the concern on her marefriend's face. Shame coursed through her as she realized how she was acting, causing her to let out a sad sigh. After a moment she spoke: “I’m sorry Applejack. I shouldn’t get in your face like that. You don’t deserve it.”  She hung her head low, her ears pinned flat against her head. “It's okay Twilight. Ah know ya didn’t mean it. Ya just being a little worried right now, is all.” Twilight nodded but didn’t say anything else. “So wait. Then why are you and Rainbow here? I thought you had a date?,” Spike asked.  “Oh. Uh, well I kind forgot my...my present for Rainbow Dash and, uh, we came back here to look for it.” Twilight gave an embarrassed smile as she rubbed the back of her neck. She then glazed around the room as if seeing it for the first time. The girls had done an impressive job in tearing down the decorations in only a few minutes. Twilight could not decide if the mess downstairs was worse than the one upstairs. Rainbow Dash signed. “Twilight,” she said, deciding that Twilight deserved to know what was going on. “Pinkie wanted to throw us an anniversary party tomorrow,” she said. Rainbow hesitated for a moment, choosing her next words carefully, not wanting to give everything away “The...the theme woulda given away my gift.” “Oh,” Twilight said. “Yeah, no pony likes spoilers!,” Pinkie Pie added. She was still bouncing the balloon with her nose, trying to keep it airborne.  “Remember how mad Rarity got at Rainbow when she spoiled her book.” “Hey! I only did that ‘cause she spoiled the sixth Daring Do!” “Oh, for the last time! I was merely saying that I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr. Nefarious turned out to be the villain! Ugh! It’s such a obvious and trite twist that I thought it was a red herring! No wonder I stopped reading after book three.” Rarity finished by crossing her forelegs indignantly. Rainbow Dash could only sputter in response. “Wait,” Twilight said. She sounded as if she was on the verge of understanding something. “How long ago did you guys get here, exactly?”. “Um, a few hours ago,” Fluttershy answered. “And you’ve been thoroughly decorating the castle the whole time?” Twilight frowned as she spoke. “Um, yes? We were all hard at work, if you wanted to know, that is.” Spike made a mental note to thank Fluttershy for not telling Twilight that he had spent much of the evening eating cupcakes and sleeping later.  “And none of you found anything of note laying around the castle.” Twilight’s voice was nearly devoid of any emotion. “N-not really.” Twilight slowly sat on her haunches. “Then, it really isn’t here,” she said, sounding utterly defeated. The tone of her voice had caused Pinkie to stop playing with her balloon and look at her with concern instead.  “I-it’s gone. It's really gone…” Twilight trailed off as she buried her face in her hooves. Rainbow Dash sat down next to her, preparing to put a comforting wing around her. “NO!” Twilight’s shout caused Rainbow to leap into the air, instinctively taking flight. Twilight was breathing heavily, her pupils tiny pinpricks, a manic grin stretching across her muzzle. “I… I can still… I can still fix this. Spike!”  The dragon jumped a little at the mention of his name. “Spike! I’m going to need you to take a letter.”  A quill and piece of paper were floated over to the terrified drake. “Um, sugar cube? That’s a napkin.” “IT'S A LETTER!,” she shrieked, causing everypony to take a step back. She then resumed speaking as if nothing happened:  “Ahem, Dear Princess Celestia,  Due to unforeseen complications, it appears that Ponyville’s fine citizens have not been able to finish preparing for the festival tonight. Therefore, I have decided that it would be best if tonight’s festival would be suspended for at least 24 hours. This way everpony will be able to follow their perfectly laid out plans for tonight without any little complications. Please send a copy of the royal decree to the Mayor’s office at once.  Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike hastily scribbled Twilight’s words onto the napkin. “Uh, Twilight,” he said. “Are you sure this is the best idea?” “Of course Spike. This way Rainbow Dash and I could get back to our date like nothing ever happened.” “Twi?,” the Pegasus in question said, hoping to appeal to her sense of reason. “Are you sure that the Princess would do that? It seems a little last minute to me.”  Twilight frowned. “You're right,” she said. Twilight smiled once again. “Looks like I’m going to need to find some more time.” She trotted out the front door, with Rainbow flying after her and the others close behind. “Twilight darling, where are you going?” “To Canterlot,” she replied matter-of-factly. “I just need to go to the library and find the time travel spell again. That way I can go back and remind my past self not to lose my anniversary present. Or better yet, I could take it from my past self! I’m sure she’d understand.” Before Twilight could take off, Rainbow Dash flew into front of her. “Twilight, can’t we just call it a night?” Rainbow Dash said as landed, still wearing that frown. “Wh-what? No! No Rainbow!I need to get you your present!” “Dang it Twilight, I don’t care about some stupid present!”  Twilight looked as if she had been slapped. “Y-you don’t care?” Rainbow immediately regretted what she said. “Twi, I didn’t mean-” “I’m doing this for you, you know,” Twilight said, cutting her off. “I wanted tonight to be special. I wanted to give you a night we would remember.” Twilight felt anger course through her veins. Rainbow shrank as Twilight's voice grew louder with each word. “But noooooo.” She stomped her hoof to emphasize her point. “That’s not happening. Apparently Twilight Sparkle isn’t allowed to do nice things for her marefriend. She’s just acting all ‘crazy’ again, having ‘an episode’ again. It’s not normal to think that the night you give your marefriend your feather should be SPECIAL!”  Suddenly Twilight’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hoof. Rainbow Dash landed on her hooves, her mouth open in shock.  “T-Twilight?,” Rainbow said. As she took a step towards her Twilight teleported away in a flash. Rainbow could only stare at the space where she had been. “I don’t understand,” Spike said. “What’d she say?” “Spike,” Fluttershy explained. “Pegasi consider their feathers to be very important. Normally when a Pegasus gives a feather to their lover, it means…” “That they are asking them if they wanna get married,” Rainbow Dash finished for her, breaking out of her stupor.  Rainbow jolted upright. “TWILIGHT!,” she yelled before taking off after her. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Twilight wasn’t looking where she was flying. It was now too dark outside to see much of anything, anyways, though based on the trees she was likely somewhere over the Everfree forest.   You had one simple task. And you couldn’t even get a right.  Twilight flew faster, trying to outrace her thoughts. “Twilight?” You ruined your anniversary. Your first anniversary! It could have been something special, but no. Tears began to fill her eyes. “Twilight!” You abandoned your date, you lost your temper with your friends, and you yelled at Rainbow Dash! You’d think that she’d want to marry you after something like this? You know, there’s only so much more of your nonsense that she will put up with. Honestly, the fact that you had a year with her has got to be some sort of miracle. “TWILIGHT, LOOK OUT!” Twilight was shoved out of the way of an incoming lightning bolt. Twilight tumbled for a moment before righting herself. A disheveled looking Rainbow Dash was beside her. “R-Rainbow, wh-” She was cut off by another loud lighting strike. Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes and noted that surrounding them were thunderclouds of various sizes . Twilight realized she had been unknowingly flying into a storm.  “Rainbow, what’s going on? I thought you said the weather team had cleared the skies for tonight.” “Well...maybe I was rushing to be back for our date and told them to just dump the clouds into the Everfree. I guess they musta mixed with a wild storm.” Twilight frowned. “Hey, don’t give me that look! I know you hate it when I’m not prenuptial.” “Punctual.” “Whatever.” A third lightning bolt flashed, worrying close to the mares. The clouds had coalesced into a bowl-like shape around them. They hissed with electricity as they began to shrink around the mares.  “You wouldn’t happen to know any spells that could help us right about now?” Twilight shut her eyes in concentration. For a moment an explosion of lavender light radiated from her horn. Twilight opened her eyes. The clouds shook but remained in place. “I guess not.” Above them another layer of clouds was closing in like a coffee lid. There likely wasn’t much time left before the two would be trapped. “Rainbow…,” Twilight said cautiously. She recognized the look on Rainbow’s face, it was the one she often wore when she was about to do something reckless. “...what are you thinking?” Rainbow’s answer was to grab and pull her onto her back. “Hold on!,” she shouted. “Rainb- WAAAAAAAAH!,”Twilight screamed as Rainbow flew the two of them towards the gap. The two walls of cloud were closing, arcs of lightning crackling between them. Twilight wanted to tell her they wouldn’t make it, but she knew her words won’t be heard over the roar of the wind. Instead she hugged her tighter. To her surprise, the pegasus changed direction at the last moment, choosing to race along the clouds. Rainbow made one loop, then another, then another. Twilight noticed she was picking up speed as her space to maneuver in became smaller and smaller. Wait, was she trying to- Twilight felt a jolt, almost as if they had hit something. It was as if the air they were flying through had become a thick liquid. She felt Rainbow tense. Suddenly some sort of membrane was wrapped around them. The membrane tightened, trying to ensnare them. Turbulence caused Twilight’s teeth to rattle in her jaw. It was becoming difficult to breathe. She held onto Rainbow as hard as she could. She didn’t hear so much as feel Rainbow’s guttural scream.  KABOOM! Then suddenly, the pressure went away. A wave of rainbow-colored light erupted out of the barrier Rainbow had broken, scattering the storm clouds. Luna’s moon was now visible, illuminating the two flyers. Twilight watched the multi-colored aura in awe. She had seen a Sonic Rainboom before, but never up close. “Aw yeah!,” Rainbow Dash said, sounding slightly winded. She shook her hoof at the few remaining clouds off in the distance. “Take that you freaks of nature! You don’t mess with the Dash!” “R-rainbow,” Twilight said. Rainbow turned to look at her. Twilight stared at her for a moment, struck by how her appearance under the moonlight and the dying remains of the Rainboom. Her magenta eyes were looking back at Twilight, full of warmth and a bit of mischief. Her prismatic mane was windswept, and a cocky smirk was adoring her muzzle. Twilight could feel the warmth and softness of her fur, her powerful muscles in her body, her pulse beating rapidly around her neck. “Yeah?” Twilight kissed her. She savored the softness of Rainbow’s lips and their sweet taste for a moment before pulling away. “I love you.” Rainbow gave Twilight a knowing smile. “I know.” Unfortunately, neither of them had realized how low they were flying. Rainbow Dash crashed into the top of a tree with a squawk, causing Twilight to be knocked out of her gasp. Before she could take flight or cast a spell to slow their fall a branch snared Twilight, its brethren rushing in to assault her as she tumbled down.  Twilight landed with a dull thud, and a few seconds later so did Rainbow. She leapt onto hooves despite her body’s protests and scanned her surroundings. Dense vegetation surrounded her, the stars above nearly covered by vines and branches. She could hear something howling in the distance. They were alone. In the Everfree forest. At night. Twilight heard a groan behind her. “T-Twi?” She ran over to Rainbow’s side, helping her onto her unsteady hooves. “Rainbow Dash! Are you alright?” Twilight noticed that Rainbow was clutching one of her wings to her side. She tried to grab it with her magic, on for Rainbow to let out a pained hiss. “GAK!, ah, Twilight,” she said. Another howl was heard off in the distance. “I don’t think I stuck that landing.”