//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Getting Better // Story: Old Habits // by Wr1tingN3rd //------------------------------// "Thanks again, Rainbow," Twilight said softly. She was currently sitting on the couch besides her colorful friend. Spike sat on a chair besides the couch. It was getting late out. "Eh, it was nothing, really," Rainbow waved a hoof away. Sure, the playing took a lot out of her, but seeing Twilight happy and actually talking to her was worth it. Twilight sipped on her drink. It was inside of a purple mug with her cutie mark on it. Hot chocolate filled the cup. Rainbow also had some hot chocolate, but was seemingly avoiding it as it sat on the coffee table between the couch and chair. Spike, however, was completely enjoying his hot chocolate. He gulped down all of it in one go, leaving a stain of brown on his face afterwards, before he quickly wiped it off. Twilight looked at Rainbow. "You know, you never told me you could play the guitar, Rainbow. You're pretty good," she said to the cyan pegasus. She looked back on the previous hours, where she remembered Rainbow's playing. It was heartfelt and impressive, and she could tell a lot of effort was put into it. She smiled looking back on the memory. "I mean, I'm not that good, but I'm decent, I guess," Rainbow responded. She stared off into the distance, seemingly half paying attention to the conversation. However, Twilight didn't seem to take much notice. "Come on, give yourself some credit," she jabbed Rainbow's side playfully. Rainbow chuckled. "Alright, alright. I was above average. Is that good enough for you, egghead?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Fine. But, in all seriousness, you have real talent," she looked at her mug again, taking another sip. "You could probably join a band if you really wanted to," she added. Rainbow thought about it. What would it be like to be in a band? Playing some sick riffs, doing some crazy solos, all great stuff! Except for the fact that she would be performing in front of an audience. And she would be playing music. It didn't quite sit well with her. "Eh, not my thing," Rainbow said, ruffling her wings uncomfortably. She looked down at the floor. "Really? I fell like you'd be one to enjoy the attention," Twilight commented. She went to take another sip, but was disappointed when there was no more chocolatey goodness left. She set the mug down on the table. "Well, usually that'd be true, but uh," she rubbed the back of her neck. "It's quite the opposite actually." She grabbed her guitar, setting it on her lap, where she examined it while she spoke. "I'm pretty sure that when you think of the Rainbow Dash, you think fast an agile, cocky and determined, 20% cooler than your average pony." She scoffed, "Imagine seeing that same pony, carrying around an acoustic. What a joke." Twilight shook her head. "No, you're wrong. If anything, being able to play the guitar would probably make you..." Twilight grinned. "25% cooler," she said, trying to mimic Rainbow. "Twilight, you sound like a dork when you say that," she laughed, before it died down and she continued to speak in a more serious tone. "But seriously Twi, it took me a lot of courage to even work up to playing for you. Could we just, uh, keep this to ourselves?" The expression on her face was one that was almost begging. "Fine," she grumbled. "But you have to promise to play me more," she quickly added, pointing her hoof at Rainbow, who raised her hooves in a surrendering-like manner. "Okay, okay! You've got a deal!" she chuckled, putting her hooves back down. Rainbow looked down at the table to grab her cup, but it wasn't there. Right besides, however, was a certain little dragon, slurping away loudly at the liquid chocolate. Realizing he was caught, Spike answered, "What? I thought you weren't gonna drink it." The two laughed, "Nah, it's fine, Spike. I didn't really want it that much anyways." Rainbow looked up at the time. "Well, uh, it's getting pretty late, so I'll probably be on my way now." Then she saw Twilight's ears flatten, which made her reconsider. Eh, she could stay another night, she didn't really have anything to do anyways. So she made up an excuse. "Well, actually, it's a bit too late for me to head back to my place, so, mind if I crash?" she asked, to the response of Twilight's ears happily jumping up again. "Of course you can stay the night!" Twilight quickly told her, a smile on her face. "I can go set up the guest bedroom! Just sit here, Dash." Quickly, she ran over to a nearby room and began to set it up using her magic. "She certainly seems happy that you're staying," the dragon snickered. A blush formed on Rainbow's cheeks. "I-It's not like that!" she defended, before seeing her guitar, which reminded her of something. "Hey Spike, do you mind if I leave my guitar here? I don't really want to travel around town constantly with it on my back. It's going to draw some looks." "Sure thing, Rainbow," Spike replied, before getting up and pointing upstairs towards a door. "You can put it in the closet over there. It doesn't get used much, anyways." The door was dusty and had cobwebs on the corners. It had not been used in quite some time. It would do. "Thanks," she nodded appreciatively, grabbing her guitar and passing by Twilight as she continued to set up the guest bedroom. She opened the wooden door with a loud creak. Inside was nothing but dust. Just dust. She coughed as she inhaled some of it. She carefully placed her guitar case in a corner and shut the door, more dust spraying out upon impact. She turned back around and was met with Twilight, who had just finished making the room. "Alright! You can put your stuff in here. I cleaned up the room, made the bed, and placed a couple of Daring Do books by your nightstand incase you want to read something," she told her. Rainbow chuckled. "Thanks, Twi. Although I don't think I'll be reading much." She yawned. "Welp, this whole day has got me tired. Imma hit the hay. G'night, Twi, Spike," she said, before heading off into her newly made room, shutting the door behind her. Twilight watched as the door closed and sighed. She went downstairs and sat besides Spike, who was relaxing on the nice cushion. She used her magic to levitate a book in front of her, before reading silently. It was labeled How To Accept A Loss. "Hey, Twilight?" the dragon asked her. Twilight pealed her eyes away from the page and peaked her head over the book. "Yeah, Spike?" "Thanks for coming out of that room. It's great to see you talking again," he smiled, walking over to her and giving her a hug. "I'm going to head upstairs to bed. Don't stay up too late, alright?" he said. Then, he silently walked up the staircase and into his room, where he laid down in his bed and slept. I guess I should probably be heading to bed too. She folded her book and neatly stacked it on the shelf, before finding her way up and into her bedroom to sleep the night away. Over the next few days, Twilight had gathered the girls and told them about what happened - leaving out Rainbow's guitar playing, for her sake. Although as happy as they were that she was back, and as happy as she was that her friends cared for her, she still had stuff on her mind. Sometimes she'd sit back and think about stuff as the hours went by. Today was one of those days. Of course, Rainbow kept her promise, so she would come around weekly to play her a song, and luckily for Twilight, today was Rainbow's day off. She walked through the front entrance of the library and glanced around. "Twilight?" she called out into the large library. "In here," a quavering voice called out. It came from Twilight's bedroom. When Rainbow went to investigate, she found Twilight sitting on her bed with slight tear stains on her eyes. Thankfully, not as much as before, but it was still there. Rainbow quickly took notice of this and rushed to her friends side, wrapping a wing over her. "Hey," she started. "You alright?" Twilight nodded slowly. "Y-yeah, it's just that I've been thinking about him recently and," she sniffed. "I r-really miss him." Her voice was shaky. Rainbow scooted closer and hugged her friend tightly. "It's okay," she told her, before unwrapping herself from the hug. "Ya know, whenever I get sad, there's always something that makes me feel better." Twilight looked up at the pegasus, who gave her a warm smile. "Sure, hit me," she murmured. "Well, it sounds kinda funny, but whenever I feel down, I usually pick up my guitar and sing something," she nudged Twilight. "You should try it." Twilight looked up at her. "Rainbow, I don't even know the first thing about playing the guitar," she said, frowning. Rainbow laughed. "That's not what I meant, egghead. I was talking about the singing." Twilight looked away. "Oh," she responded. She thought about what the cyan pegasus had told her, shaking her head shortly after. "No. I'm not a great singer, Dash." "You don't need to be," she told her. Then, she got up. "How about this? I go grab my guitar and play something, and you can sing along. That'll get you up in no time. Deal?" Twilight looked up in doubt. "Are you sure?" Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, I am. If it helps me, it'll help you. Plus, maybe you'll be less socially awkward all the time." "Hey!" Twilight blushed, but the pegasus didn't take notice. She just laughed. "Alright, imma go grab my guitar. Think of a song, will ya?" she said as she left the room and went to the closet to retrieve her wooden instrument. It wasn't long before the mare was back in the room, her six string on her back. She sat down besides Twilight again, and put the guitar into playing position while getting her hooves ready. "You ready?" she asked. Twilight nodded. "I think I have something in mind..." Lonely Day - System Of A Down "Sure, I think I know that one," Rainbow said. She looked down at her fretboard and started playing the strings to the sound of a somber melody. Twilight seemed to be uneasy as she fidgeted in place. She wasn't much of a singer. She didn't like to sing in front of others. Did she really want to do this? She looked up at Dash who gave her a reassuring smile, to which Twilight returned one of her own, before she began to sing. Such a lonely day, and it's mine The most loneliest day of my life Rainbow Dash was surprised. She sounded... heavenly. Her voice was soft, but at the same time strong and powerful. Rainbow couldn't help but just listen to Twilight's singing... and then realizing that she had a guitar to play. Such a lonely day should be banned It's a day that I can't stand She moved onto power chords as the chorus came up. The most loneliest day of my life The most loneliest day of my life Twilight's voice rang out through the room, matching the volume of the guitar being strummed. Raw emotion powered her as she sang her way through the chorus. Such a lonely day shouldn't exist It's a day that I'll never miss Such a lonely day, and it's mine The most loneliest day of my life She looked back on her past memories. Her family. Her brother. How she never got to even say goodbye. She closed her eyes. Tears starting to form in the corners, but that only fueled her. And if you go, I wanna go with you And if you die, I wanna die with you Take your hand and walk away All of Twilight's built up emotion seemed to be released as she sang the final line before Rainbow broke out into her solo, hooves sliding across the fretboard before at incredible speed. Then, they traversed to the chorus once more. The most loneliest day of my life The most loneliest day of my life The most loneliest day of my life As the song started to come to an end, the power in Twilight's voice started to die out with it. Such a lonely day, and it's mine It's a day that I'm glad I survived And with a few final harmonics, the song ended. Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes again. "So, how do you feel?" Rainbow asked, a wide smile on her face. Twilight put her hoof to her chest and examined her heartbeat. Her pulse had began to die down. "I-," she paused. "I feel... fine? Wow, that actually helped a lot! Oh, thank you, Rainbow!" she squealed and gave her pegasus friend a tight squeeze. "Twilight? I can't breath-," she sputtered out. Twilight quickly scrambled backwards. "Oh, sorry!" she smiled sheepishly. Rainbow chuckled. "It's fine. Just glad to see you're alright again." "Rainbow?" the purple mare asked. "Can we do this more often? It helps me cope with the stress," a blush formed as she spoke, but she turned away before the Rainbow could see. "No problem Twi! Anytime," she smiled. "If you're ever feeling down, just give me a call and I'll head right over." Twilight grinned. "Thanks."