AN: This is a shorter chapter, as part of an experiment on what's a good length for episode parallels.
“Oh, come in Rarity.” Twilight said, greeting the soaked mare. “This is really awful weather. Perhaps you should stay over here for the night.”
“Thank you for the offer, darling. I might take you up on it.” Rarity slowly walked inside. “But, do you have room? I believe Trixie normally takes up the other bed?”
“She and Spike have gone over to do what she calls ‘research’ with Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said disapprovingly. “Myself, I think it’s an excuse to mess around with explosives.”
“Hummingbird! How much Rainbow Extract have you obtained for Trixie?”
“Ten barrels!” Dash replied triumphantly, pointing over at the pile, and congratulating herself on the forethought to assign herself to the cleanup phase for this storm only.
Trixie trotted over, her hooves shimmering faintly with a cloud walking spell.
“Good. Now, let us find a vacant cloud to experiment with.” She lifted one of the barrels telekinetically into the balloon, and hopped in herself.
“Why not here?”
“This is your house. If this is a suitable replacement for Trixie’s pyrotechnic materials, there will no longer be a house if all these barrels go off.”
“Point taken.” Dash grinned. “Doing this on a day when there’s a thunderstorm was a brilliant idea! Nopony’s even going to notice the random explosions among all the thunder!”
“Oh, they will notice eventually.” Trixie rubbed her hooves together. “Probably when Trixie gets… enthusiastic.”
“Oh.” Spike said, from his position on the opposite side of the balloon’s basket from the barrel of an explosive of unknown potency. “So in about two hours.”
“Yes, Trixie thinks that sounds about right.” She then frowned, and looked over at Spike. “How did you come up with that number?”
Spike held up a checklist. It was titled ‘So Trixie has become a pyromaniac again’ and listed stages from one to five. Stage four was labelled “duck and cover” and five laid out how to go about explaining everything to the palace guards.
“Trixie did not realize she had become statistically predictable back in Canterlot.”
“It’s Twilight.”
“True.” Trixie admitted. “She probably slaps a normal distribution on anything that stands still long enough. Now! To science!”
Dash took up the tow rope, and pulled the Twinkling Balloon off somewhere relatively quiet. Not that it would remain so for long.
“Test one.” Trixie said, looking down a borrowed telescope at the sunlit, cloud-crafted firing range. They’d gone so high that they were above the clouds, at Spike’s insistence – and it was interesting to watch, seeing the occasional pegasus fly up to get a bead on the cloud patterns.
“Test one, aye.” Spike replied, and lit the fuse.
A shimmering blue shield sprung up in front of them, and then the bucket of extract exploded like nitroglycerine. The overpressure caused the clouds to ripple, and both spectators ducked as it arrived.
Dash was hovering nearby inside a cloud bunker, ready to catch them if the spell – or cloud – was disrupted.
“Well, Trixie thinks that was entirely satisfying.”
“Satisfying?” Spike asked. “There were gallons of that stuff right next to us in the balloon!”
“Exactly! We have enough for much more of a bang! Now, test two. Ignition heat.”
Trixie snapped her notebook shut. “Well, it would appear we have all the information Trixie was after.”
“Oh, good.” Spike muttered, checking his face for scorch marks. “Was the test to see if my breath set it off really necessary?”
“Of course!” Trixie replied, scandalized. “The ability to make an explosion appear from nowhere would be of great dramatic value!”
“Right, silly question.”
“Hey, Trix!” Dash called from overhead. “We’ve still got about seven barrels of the stuff left, what do you want to do with it?”
Trixie slowly smiled. Spike caught sight of her, and flinched.
“Well, now. That is an interesting question. Tell Trixie, have you managed to do another rainboom yet?”
Dash shook her head. “No, just the one you all saw years ago.”
“Well, then, here’s your chance. From what Trixie recalls of the schedule, this storm is about done – but it’ll take at least an hour to dismantle it.” Trixie pointed dramatically skywards. “When Trixie first arrived in Ponyville, she was told you could clear the sky in ten seconds flat. Make good on your boast.”
The pegasus blinked. “But… how?”
“Sonic Rainboom, right into the barrels of rainbow extract. Should make a big enough bang.” Trixie’s eyes glowed, and she rubbed her hooves together. “Yes, easily big enough.”
Spike pulled a spare scroll from the balloon basket and began writing up a public disturbance witness report. Best to get these things over with in advance.
“Hey, Trixie?” Spike asked, as the near-invisible speck that was Rainbow Dash stopped climbing and started diving. “What’s your backup plan if this doesn’t work?”
“Backup?” Trixie asked, confused. “Why would Trixie need a backup?”
“Knew it.”
A blue glow lit the unicorn’s horn, and a class-L bunker shield formed around the two of them. “Trixie provided for protection, she provided for clearing the storm – even for what happens when the cloud we are on evaporates. What is left?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe Rainbow Dash could fail to pull off the Rainboom she’s only ever done once before.”
“Do not be silly. Trixie has prepared measures to ensure it occurs without a hitch.”
As Dash plummeted, her feathers and mane began to ripple in the airstream. Doubt began to gnaw at her. What if she did fail? She’d never done this since childhood – what if she’d lost some edge of agility that would be needed to-
Her eyes snapped open despite the rush of wind. From above, the cloud Trixie and Spike were on was clearly changing shape. Forming words. It said…
Last one to the library
Explains what we were doing
To Twilight.
Dash;s face hardened. No way was she going to explain to the responsible unicorn that they’d made a bomb capable of levelling a small village! She’d have to get there first.
“What did you do?”
Trixie smirked. “Gave her something else to think about.”
The mach cone above formed, narrowed- and just as it hit the cloud tops, burst in a shower of rainbow light.
This, of course, set off about a tonne of high explosives.
“Okay, everypony, as soon as Dash shows up we can start the breakup phase for this storm. Good work, this was a big job and we handled it- Celestia’s feathers!”
Cloudchaser gaped, and the blastwave rolled over him, sending him and all the other weather pegasi tumbling for a moment before they could straighten themselves out.
In a second, a large thunderstorm sublimated into clear sky. The background sound was suspiciously like “WOOOO-HOOO!”
“Well, here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.” Spike deadpanned. “I have to say, this is the first time I’ve ever hit terminal velocity.”
“Trixie wishes to reassure you that terminal velocity is not in fact fatal, despite the name.” Somehow, the unicorn was still keeping a hold of her hat. “Nevertheless, she would appreciate it if you were to brace yourself. The main anti-falling spell Trixie knows works more by… bouncing, than by slowing down. Now, take a letter.”
Trixie cleared her throat. “Dear Princess. Liquid rainbow is an excellent explosive. Additionally, a pony can sometimes be better at something when they’re not thinking about it. Yours, Trixie.”
The letter vanished in emerald fire. Unicorn and dragon glowed briefly azure, then hit the ground hard and went sailing upwards at almost the same speed.
The second bounce happened almost the same way as the first, but slightly slower and with a little less screaming.
Fifteen seconds after Spike sent the scroll, a reply coalesced.
Spike cleared his throat. “Er-hem. “Dear Trixie. Don’t bother to explain, I’m sure I’ll get the full story from Captain Armour. Probably the next time he gets a chance to rant.”
The pair hit a puddle, sending water all over the town square, and flew back upwards again.
“P.S. My compliments to miss Dash on her Rainboom.”” Spike finished. “Now what?”
“One of the many lacks of this spell is the ability to steer.” Trixie apologized. “Now, Trixie thinks we are about to hit the library.”
“Okay, I understand that you don’t want to tell me,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “But that explosion shook the library, and I think it’s what knocked over a tree! I just want to know-“
The building shook again, and a loud crash was followed by several raised voices from upstairs.
“Oh, hey!” Dash said. “Looks like Trixie and Spike are here. I’ll just let them explain.”
“So, Trixie.” Twilight said, glaring at her.
“That’s not a very good glare, Twilight.” Trixie said. “Trixie recalls them being much better last year.”
“Maybe she’s not getting enough sleep.” Spike volunteered.
“And whose fault is that?” Twilight pressed.
“Yours.” Unicorn and dragon chorused.
“Trixie told you that you should learn a sound blocking spell.” The blue unicorn shrugged. “If you will not take Trixie’s suggestions, then she is not responsible for your lack of sleep.”
“Anyway,” the librarian sighed, heavily. “That explosion of yours and Dash’s knocked over a tree – so there is a hole in the roof – and probably woke half the town. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
After a moment, Trixie raised a hoof.
“Go on.”
“Repair spells are in Block and Quayle’s compendium of-“
“I know where the repair spells are!”
Trixie gave a shrug. “Then she has nothing for you.”
“Um… Twilight?” Spike asked, distracting the unicorn in question before she exploded.
“Yes?”
“I’d just like to say… it was nice to see a Rainboom. I know it startled you, but the damage is easy enough to fix; it saved the pegasi a good hour of work; Rainbow Dash knows she can do it, and now I know what it was you two saw just before I hatched.”
Twilight’s expression softened. “That’s alright, Spike. Sorry if I overreacted – you two did help her out today. I’ll go and let the mayor know what happened.”
She walked over to the door, opened it, and lit a light spell on her horn to see as she headed out.
Trixie waited until the other unicorn’s hoofsteps had faded away, then turned to Spike. “Trixie is most impressed. You actually got us out of trouble.”
Spike flashed a grin. “Yeah, not bad, huh?”
“Now, Trixie shall ensure that there are no physical reminders of the incident in order that Twilight is not reminded of her former anger. Where is that compendium?”
“Third shelf up on the left.”
Twilight returned a few minutes later. “Okay, that’s sorted. You two better get to bed.”
“You are not coming?” Trixie asked.
“I’m going to go stargaze for a bit. Should let me relax enough to actually get to sleep – and the sky’s so clear! It’d be a shame to waste the opportunity.”
“Right.” Spike said, checking the calendar. “Looks like you can have a lie in tomorrow morning, anyway – no appointments. Trix and I will handle the library for the first few hours.”
“Trixie would appreciate warning before you volunteer her; however, she will let it pass.”
“Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.” Twilight headed for her stargazing platform.
“…Trixie?” Spike said, quietly. “I just had a horrible thought.”
“Go on.”
“That telescope of Twilight’s you borrowed for the experiments? What happened to it?”
An orange light flashed in the window, with a whump of igniting flame. “TRIXIE LULAMOON!”
“Oh, look at the time!” Trixie said, gathering up a few things with her telekinesis. “Trixie feels like experimenting with sleepovers in the same manner as Twilight. See you tomorrow, Spike.”
A blue cloud of smoke and a BANG replaced the Element of Magic, just as a vengeful Twilight entered the room and galloped for the door.
Rolling his eyes, Spike retired to his bed with an amphibole and a copy of Her Dark Materials.
Girls were just so highly strung sometimes.
AN: I imagine Her Dark Materials being Lunar Republic style fiction, where Celestia is the antagonist. Of course, no pony ever worked out that she wrote it, to prepare for her sister to return...