//------------------------------// // 3. Do Your Demons Ever Let You Go? // Story: A Rainbow in the Dark // by FeignedSincerity //------------------------------// As unplanned naps go, this one lasted a little too long. The two were awoken by a sharp knock at the door, followed by a voice. “Hey Twi, think you might wanna take a break from your books’n join us for some vittles?” came the incredibly memorable country accent. The light coming in through the window suggested that it was rather late in the day, around time for dinner to be sure. Rainbow let out a labored yawn and wrapped both hooves around Twilight’s arm. She was acting as the little spoon, and naturally didn’t want to get up. “Just a few more minutes...” “Rainbow we need to get up. We slept too long!” Twilight yanked her hoof away and sat up, causing Rainbow to roll over onto her back. “Come on Twilight, it’s only like, probably 4 or something. What’s another 10 minutes, or maybe an hour?” “I’ll tell you what!” Twilight’s horn fired up and teleported both of them to the middle of the floor. “My entire sleep schedule is going to be completely thrown off! I can’t risk offsetting my entire calender, that’s 4 months of planning completely down the drain!” The frazzled pegasus stood up and brushed off her legs. “We’re gonna have to work on that if we’re gonna be together.” “Work on what, being prepared?” Twilight asked with a worried frown. “Because I am always prepared. Always!” “That’s cool and all Twilight, but being prepared is pretty dumb if you can’t enjoy it.” She had a point, and Twilight had to admit it. Having your life planned months in advance was nice, but it sure was stressful to keep up. “I’ll work on relaxing if you work on thinking things through a little more,” Twilight retaliated. “Like, I don’t know, climbing over a train-” “Which I do all the time, just fine-” “At night when you’re too afraid to stand up straight-” “Because...” She was stumped. Rainbow had to admit defeat in this case. A match of words and wits was a lost cause against the princess’s personal protege. “Because shut up.” “Speaking of which,” Twilight reminded while levitating a brush over to herself to begin fixing her mane. “Didn’t you ‘go to bed’? Now correct me if I’m wrong but the others are going to expect you from the other side this time.” “No sweat, I’ll just fly over again. I’ll be there in 10 seconds flat!” “And that’s what worries me.” Twilight placed the brush back over at her mirror and turned to face Rainbow. “Which is why I thought of a backup plan!” Rainbow scratched at her head in confusion. “Wait, when did you think of a backup plan?” “This morning,” Twilight laughed, patting Rainbow on the head. “Just before we finished eating.” “Ok, now I know that’s a load of bull!” “Nope, not at all.” The unicorn began making her bed while she explained. “Once I realized that the others were suspicious, I thought about how this encounter would go. I accounted for the likelihood of Spike walking in on us, hence why I wasn’t too worried about it, and thus I could add him as a possible accomplice. I also knew that Applejack, who to my newfound knowledge is sleeping between myself and the dining car, is the most suspicious.” Rainbow’s jaw was slowly finding it’s way to the floor, completely flabbergasted. And then it kept going. “I knew you would fly overhead to get here after breakfast, and so I also calculated the retained *ahem* awesomeness of a single action. Given the short proximity of time intervals, I have determined that 3 times in the area of 24 hours is at least 84% less cool than the first time, making it pretty lame in retrospect. Therefore, you have absolutely no reason to make the trip again, preventing any potential disasters, and making me feel a whole lot better.” Rainbow quickly gathered her brains from the floor and tried to make any sense of this. “Fine, what’s the plan?” “That’s the good part! SPIKE!” The purple dragon came in quietly, hoping not to be in trouble. “Good, you heard me. Now that I know you were eavesdropping I can skip the briefing. There’s an unusually shaped tree 10 minutes down the track from her on the West side of the train. You’re going to draw everyponies attention to it when it passes, giving us a window of about 30 seconds to get you in, though we can safely assume that can be cut in half due to Pinkie Pie’s short attention span. That gives you at least 10 seconds, flat or not, to appear from the other side of the diner. If all goes as planned we should be free of excess suspicion.” Both the dragon and the pegasus were dumbfounded. Spike nervously backed away and out of the car. It was all Rainbow could to do stay upright. “You’re gonna have to tell me how you did all of that...” “Well, when I said I had to study after breakfast, I wasn’t lying. Fluttershy distracted you just enough for me to memorize the next 400 miles of the map. We began cuddling around 10, and given your impressively accurate assumption that it was about 4 now, that means we were asleep for approximately 6 hours. given the speed we’re going at, around 40 miles per hour, that would indicate our current location to be 240 miles further than last I checked, and the tree I mentioned to Spike is at mile 250, meaning it would take another 15 minutes to reach that spot.” “But you told him 10 minutes...” Rainbow’s head was beginning to hurt. “Yes, I did, because I know how Spike thinks. He’ll begin counting that 10 minutes as soon as he reaches the dining car, which would only take about a minute, but given that Rarity is up and about, I accounted for an extra 4 minutes of mingling.” Looking rather proud of herself, Twilight teleported behind Rainbow and wrapped her hooves around the almost brain-dead athlete. “Speaking of mingling, we’re going to need to get out there soon!” To Twilight Sparkle’s delight, and Rainbow Dash’s disbelief, the plan went off without a hitch. Exactly at the given time, Spike made a big deal about some tree out the window. The others begrudgingly joined him, only to look in disbelief that he bothered to point it out. During that time, Rainbow opened the door and dashed to the other side, barely making a sound. She then joined the others as Pinkie, 5 seconds later, turned her attention to Twilight. Rainbow felt her brain begin to melt, and her heart beat a little faster. “Oh there you are Twilight! I was worried you were going to forget to eat again! We all missed you and Dashie at lunch, but I guess cuddle time is important too!” Twilight’s eye twitched in fear that her flawless plan had been spoiled by the unpredictable party pony. “Pinkie, if I was with Twilight, then why did we come from different sides of the room?” Rainbow sat at the table, and then the rest actually noticed that she was in fact already there. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right. Hey, I’m sure books are pretty comfy!” The pink mare bounced her way to the table and slammed herself onto the bench next to Dash. “My mistake, sorry Dashie!” An annoyed sigh could be heard from the window. “A’right, I’m gonna put mah hoof down right now. Twi, Dash, we all know-MMF” Applejack’s mouth was instantly sealed with a large pineapple to silence her. Twilight’s horn lost it’s glow as she made her way to the table. “You know what’s really good? Food. Food is delicious!” She lifted an apple from the basket and took a large bite out of it, chewing the fruit thoughtfully. Her plan had worked, and that’s all that mattered. This time, Rarity spoke up. After sitting at the table and organizing a plate with fruits and toppings, she had had just about enough. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of darling, we’re not going to judge you if-” CLONK Rarity slid off of her plate and onto the floor. Her face was covered in a raspberry cream that was originally meant for an assortment of berries. Twilight took another bite of her apple. “Man, this apple is good! I’m so glad I can just enjoy this apple!” Her left ear drooped to cover part of her eye and her mane began to unravel itself. “Hehe, it looks like Rarity just got... CREAMED!” Pinkie Pie rolled onto the floor in laughter. Twilight joined her in laughter, though her mental stability was slipping quite obviously. Rainbow began to wilt in her seat, realizing that she would be sleeping with that later in the night. She honestly feared for her safety. “Oh... Oh my...” Fluttershy backed herself into a corner and laid there, waiting for everything to stop. That is, until Twilight encased her in a pocket of magic and pulled her to the table. “Hey Fluttershy! Hey pal! My favorite little unassuming pegasus. You like apples right? Try the apples!” Twilight held an apple up to her face. This was too much for Rainbow, and she quickly bolted for the other room. This sent a shock to Twilight’s head and snapped her back in control. “Rainbow? Hey Rainbow! Come back!” She yelled towards the open door as she chased after her friend. “P’too!” Applejack finally worked the pineapple out of her mouth and was free to speak. “I can understand bein’ nervous but this is just plain ridiculous.” “I’m sorry!” Twilight exclaimed to Rainbow, who sat on her bed with her blanket wrapped around her. “I’m not mad Twilight,” she returned. “You just scare me sometimes.” “And that’s why I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” The unstable unicorn felt as though she was running in circles, but Rainbow seemed a lot calmer than when she ran. “I know you didn’t. Twilight I know you’re nervous about this but I’m pretty sure they already know.” Rainbow removed the blanket from her shoulders and laid back. “Rarity even began to say that they wouldn’t judge us. Come on, loosen up.” “It’s not about that!” The reply she got wasn’t what she had expected, but there it was. Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to take Rainbow’s advice. “I formulated that plan carefully. Everything was right. Everything should have worked, but it didn’t! I slept through an entire day that I could have used to study, I’m still tired which I guess makes sense but it really doesn’t, and on top of all that, my head hurts. My love life is 100% more existent then it was yesterday, but you’re about the only thing on this train keeping me sane!” “Aren’t I the reason this is all happening?” “Don’t remind me...” Twilight fell to the floor and covered her face in her hooves. “I haven’t done any planning and we’ll be in Trottingham tomorrow afternoon...” Rainbow pat her mattress a few times, indicating for Twilight to come join her, but she didn’t come. “Is there anything I can do?” “I need my journal...” “What was that?” “My journal. I’ll be right back!” Twilight disappeared from existence for about 2 minutes. Rainbow began getting impatient when Twilight reappeared, in the exact same spot, but this time with a thick purple book. “My journal!” “And that’s going to calm you down?” “Always does! I just need to write something in it and I’m sure everything will be alright!” Twilight levitated a pen from behind her ear and opened the book to the first empty page. ‘Dear Twilight, Last night Rainbow Dash and I cuddled. It was awesome, and it made me feel really good about myself. I’m falling in love with her, but I’m really nervous about our friends finding out because they’ll think it’s weird. Also, I kind of went crazy and knocked Rarity unconscious on a plate of fruit. Princess Celestia would be proud of you Sincerely, Twilight Spackle’ “...” “Twilight, you don’t look very relaxed.” Rainbow had made her way behind Twilight and read as she wrote. It was a little strange. “You even spelled your name wrong.” “That didn’t work nearly as well as I thought it would...” Twilight threw the journal across the room. “How did I let this happen? Celestia is going to hate me, probably shun me from her life, and then burn down the library to forget I ever existed!” A single cyan hoof found it’s way to a lonely lavender one. “Would it make you feel better if... Well... If I wrote to you in your journal?” “What?” Twilight jerked upright and shot Rainbow a confused stare. “Why would you write in my journal?” “Well you formatted it like a letter, I guess I could write you a letter,” Rainbow offered. “And knowing you it would probably make you feel better having an entry for tonight. It just wouldn’t be, you know... You.” To her surprise, Twilight sparkle’s eyes lit up. “You would write? For me?” “Yeah Twi, I’d write for you.” Rainbow got up and made her way to the journal. Opening to the same page as the last entry, she scribbled it out and began to write. She obviously wasn’t used to writing, as her pen strokes were all erratic and jagged, but she wrote anyway. Twilight watched as her un-scholarly object of affection wrote, finding herself entranced in the rough sound of pen on paper. “Here.” The journal slid towards the day dreaming unicorn, and stopped when it hit her on the hoof. She looked down, and saw the rest of the page was filled with some of the worst hoof-writing she had ever seen. ‘Dear Twilight Youre really cool and stuff. Like, when I fly I get all happy and feel cool, and you make me feel like that, but while I’m not flying. You’re really cute when you do nerd stuff, even though it is nerd stuff, and your crazy plans are pretty sweet sometimes. Also, Rarity had it coming. Now stop being sad or whatever and kiss me because I like it when you do that. Whatever sincerely means, RD’ Silence. Twilight read over the note again, and again, and again. After the fourth read she could recite the entire thing from memory. After the fifth read, she cracked. Her mouth fought her to turn up into a smile, her nerves erased and completely replaced by a belly full of laughter. Eventually, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “BAHAHAHA! This... This is the worst letter-I mean this is so sweet of you Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow slouched and crossed her arms. “You serious? I tried to be all mushy and stuff, I thought it would-MMmmg... mmmmm...” In her perturbed state, she didn’t notice Twilight teleporting behind her. From there, she pulled Rainbow to face her and engaged her in the very kiss that was requested. Rainbow replaced her surprise and dejection with desire, leaning into the kiss and enjoying every second of it. Their lips worked together, opening and closing, brushing against each other forcefully in a passionate display of young love. Twilight could swear she tasted a morning mist on Rainbow’s tongue, entangling with it between the two physically involved mares. Then to noponies surprise, the door opened. This time it was Rarity. “Twilight Sparkle you ruined my hair, gave me a black eye, and broke a plate!” Her expression was nothing short of furious. “Now you’re going to-oh my goodness I was completely wrong about everything...” The two love birds froze again, wondering how that could be such a common occurrence at this point. Twilight backed away from Rainbow, seemingly calm considering the situation. “Really? Really? BUCKING REALLY?! Is sleeping the only way to get any alone time?” Her mane began taking on the hue of fire as the heat in the room began to rise. Rarity looked down at the floor. "Eh, well I don't know about that... Spike's been rather glued to your door... All day... Knowing this I guess I'm not surprised." "I WILL ERASE HIM FROM HISTORY!" “Whoa, calm down girl, I’ll handle this.” Rainbow walked towards Rarity, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder on her way by. Twilight cools down, wondering just how Rainbow would handle it. “Yo Rarity, I’m trying to mack on this fine piece of egghead over here, I’ll explain later. Now if you don’t mind, I’mma score pretty soon. Kinda cramping my style.” Rarity and Twilight share a look, and then both look back at Rainbow. “Uhuh... I guess I can go do my hair again... Why yes look at the time! Hehe, hair time! Sp-Spike!” Frantically, Rarity opened the door and stumbled out. “You’re gonna score huh?” “Sorry, I’ve learned that the best way to get rid of Rarity is just overload her with rudeness.” Rainbow returned to Twilight’s side. Of course, the purple pony was lost in thought now. “Just out of curiosity, since it’s been bothering me since this morning...” Twilight began with a curious expression. “If you wanted all of this, why did you freak out when you woke up in my arms?” “Oh that? Yeah I guess that was kind of weird wasn’t it.” Rainbow lifted herself into the air and carried herself over to the bed. “To be honest, I was just shocked that everything worked out so easily, and so fast.” “Worked out?” Twilight approached the bed but didn’t get on it. “Like, you were planning this? You aren’t afraid of the dark, are you?” “I am,” Rainbow corrected, showing a bit of humility in those two words. “Do you think I’m that good at acting? I’m terrified of the dark, just ask Fluttershy. But I’ll admit I did plan to make my first move on this trip.” Twilight noticed a light feeling in her stomach at this admission. Something about it was strangely... arousing to her. “You? You planned this all out? When?” “When I found out about the trip...” “That was a month ago.” Twilight’s mind, being far more adept than Rainbow’s, was able to immediately comprehend the situation. “You planned this out a month ago?” “Yeah, totally did,” Rainbow laughed, patting a hoof on the bed. “Kinda like something you’d do isn’t it? Now I know you’re tired, just get in this bed and stop thinking. Seriously, you’re brain kind of freaks me out sometimes.” “Well the same goes for your recklessness.” Twilight crawled into bed, noting how incredibly fluffy Rainbow’s pillow was. “Cloud. Comfy isn’t it?” Two hooves beat against the pillow to let out a white puff. She then buried her face into Twilight’s breast. “Though unicorn is a pretty close second I guess.” “Don’t lie to me, I’m nowhere as soft as a cloud.” Twilight wrapped her hooves around the curled up pegasus. “You’d be surprised, Twilight. You’d be surprised.”