//------------------------------// // Beginnings // Story: A Single Spark // by Star Grazer //------------------------------// All things have a beginning, and many have an end. However, some things are so great as to never come to a close. Laughter filled the air near the cottage, disturbing the mildly large animal population of the surrounding area. The sound had come from two ponies, sitting across from one another, sipping at a small brew of tea, the liquid still steaming from both the cups and from the teapot that was between the two, pushed slightly to the side so that they could talk to each other more easily. The conversation between the two was casual, both ponies more or less simply trying to catch up with one another. "I never really knew that butterflies could be such a bother. You did manage to gather them all up, yes?" The lavender mare was smiling at the other pony, this one of a soft yellow complexion. "Of course, Twilight. If I hadn't, the cottage would be much quieter." Fluttershy took a sip of her tea with that, the cup delicately held between her hooves so that it wouldn't slip and break due to the fall, or crack due to the pressure being exerted on its sides. "That's good. I don't think Ponyville would have enjoyed having half of the butterflies missing from next year's migration." That got a soft giggle out of the pegasus, who gave a nod in return. "It's really quite wonderful that the butterflies stop by on their trips to rest. Cloudsdale is too high up for them to visit, and on my trips there I've always missed the little creatures." Fluttershy cast a glance in the general direction where Cloudsdale was last located, the semi-mobile city most likely having moved from the spot by now. "Well, of course. It's really much too cold for them up there. I'm still surprised that those wings I made for Rarity lasted as long as they did without frosting over." Twilight chuckled as a thought came to her head. "It would have saved us all a lot of trouble, especially Dash." "I'm sure Rainbow didn't mind it at all, Twilight. She was always helping me when I got into trouble during Flight School, after all." The mare leaned forward, grabbing the teapot in her mouth to refill her tea with as Twilight tilted her head slightly, a curious look coming to her eyes. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard much about you or Dash's lives in Cloudsdale. What was it like?" Twilight's voice was raised slightly, helping to indicate her curiosity as to the subject. She knew about Pinkie's past, or at least some of it, and Rarity's parents lived in town, as did most of Applejack's immediate family. The two pegasi of the group, however, still had backgrounds that were, for the most part, unknown to her and, in Twilight's mind, at least, it was her duty as a good friend to find out more about it. Fluttershy's ears, however, drooped, the bashful mare looking down with a nervous expression. "Oh... I'm really sorry Twilight, but I wasn't in Cloudsdale for that long. Once I fell to the ground as a filly and got my cutie mark, I never really went back. Rainbow is the one you should ask. I'm sorry..." Twilight's eyes darkened briefly in disappointment, before she quickly shook her head and perked up. "Oh, that's quite alright, Fluttershy. I'll be sure to go ask Rainbow. In fact, I may go ask her now." She brightened, finishing her tea in a gulp, and standing up from her seat. "Thanks for the tea, Fluttershy. I'll talk with you later, all right?" Fluttershy simply gave a nod and smiled. "It was no trouble at all, Twilight. I hope Rainbow can tell you more than I could." With that, Twilight spun around and trotted away, giving her friend a final glance and wave before truly heading away from the cottage. Now, with her mind free from distractions, Twilight was able to think. Now, where would I be if I was a reckless, egotistic, and somewhat lazy pegasus? She looked around for a moment, before turning her head upwards and catching sight of a stray cloud, grinning as she did so. A cloud! It's either that or a tree. Hopefully she isn't too hard to wake if she's asleep or something. Twilight's pace picked up with that, her thoughts moving to work out the problem of how she would even get close enough to Dash if she had taken a nap on a cloud. Her walking soon brought her to the outskirts of Ponyville, the houses just as sparse as the clouds that floated about, the day having been planned to only be slightly cloudy. It made things all the easier for the purple mare, as she only had to scan the skies for a few moments before dropping her attention to the treeline around the area, repeating the process every so often to make sure she didn't miss anything. Eventually, she spotted her quarry, as the flash of rainbow coloring that had appeared from over the edge of a rather small cloud indicated. Twilight moved to the cloud, or rather under it, looking up at it and frowning. Several options ran through her head on how to rouse the mare, as she was most likely sleeping, but the simplest one was the one she went with. "Hey Rainbow Dash! I want to talk to you!" The rainbow colored tail appeared once more, and soon a somewhat tired looking cyan pegasus was looking down at Twilight. The unicorn smiled in response. Yelling. Almost always the perfect solution when it came to getting attention. "What's up, Twi'? I was just getting into the swing of that nap!" Dash rubbed her eyes for a moment, gave a yawn, and unfolded her wings. She floated up off of the cloud, inspected it for a moment, before shrugging as if coming to a decision and coming down to land on the ground next to her friend. "Oh, nothing much, Dash. I was chatting with Fluttershy earlier, and we got onto the topic of her time in Cloudsdale. She couldn't tell me much, since she left as a filly, so she recommended that I ask you instead. It works out, since I know pretty much nothing about your past either." There was a pause as Dash looked at Twilight, waiting for her to continue. Twilight stared back, before sighing. "So, Dash, what was Cloudsdale like?" "Oh! Well, what'd Shy tell ya?" She smirked, moving into the air as she spoke, watching the purple mare below her as she kept herself aloft. As soon as the question was stated, Twilight's expression went flat. "As I said just a few seconds ago, she told me to ask you." She noted that Dash seemed a bit bored by the question, the pegasus giving the cloud above her a furtive glance, so Twilight spoke up in order to keep the mare's attention. "We can walk while you tell me. So long as you don't fall asleep or something." Dash sighed, before smirking and waiting for Twilight to move forward, the pegasus soon following suit, moving at a pace which Twilight could easily match. "Oh, fine. Guess I should have expected the local egghead to do some research on the ponies here." Twilight rolled her eyes, before responding. "It isn't research, Dash. I just want to know more about your past. I've heard a lot about the others, but as for you and Fluttershy, I don't really have much other than how you two got your cutie marks." Dash took a moment to remember her previous home, shrugging as she spoke up. "Whatever. Cloudsdale was... cool, I guess. It's where I grew up, and the Wonderbolts performed there a bunch, since that's where a lot of pegasi were." Dash grinned suddenly, a memory coming back to her. "I remember the first ticket I managed to get for one of their shows. Most awesome day of my life!" Her eyes glimmered, betraying her feelings of what could only be described as adoration for the Wonderbolt's abilities. "But aside from that, it wasn't much. Stayed with my parents, moved out after a while, came here because I found out Shy lived here." Twilight looked to Dash, frowning as she glanced ahead of her to make sure not to run into anypony. "Oh, come on, there has to be more than that! What about places to see, things to do? You have to have had something other than the Wonderbolts!" With that, Rainbow Dash shrugged once more. "There were a few places I hung out at, I guess. The old coliseum up there was pretty cool, even if it is pretty much vacant." Twilight nodded, continuing to look at Dash as the pegasus dug deeper into her memories. "There was some restaurant place too, where the pegasus in charge gave me and some of my old buds free food every once in a while. Can't really think of much else." That got a veritable sigh out of Twilight. "You're an absolute wellspring of knowledge, Dash." She continued to frown, her head facing downwards, until the gears in her mind began to spin, and an idea sprang to her head. Immediately, the mare brightened, looking up to Dash with an inquisitive smile on her face. "Dash? When was the last time you visited Cloudsdale?" Dash stopped, her mouth coming open to say something, before closing again. She thought for a while, shaking her head soon afterwards. "Dunno. At least a year, I think. Last time I really worried about the place was when Discord was here, and that was only because he got into my head." Dash's brows furrowed, even after so long, the fact that Discord had tricked her into betraying her Element, and therefore her friends, still angered her. "Hmm." Twilight continued to grin, a plan already coming to mind before she nodded. "It was good talking to you, Dash. Thanks for the info!" She stood there for a moment, before chuckling. "We really should hang out more. I hardly ever see you." Dash gave a nod. "Sure thing, egghead. We should get together sometime. Just not in the library or anything." She made a face. "Sure, reading's cool and all... but hanging there for more than Daring Doo? No thanks." Twilight laughed at the comment, turning away from her friend and waving a hoof. "I'll see you later, Rainbow. Have fun sleeping, or whatever it was you were doing before I woke you up!" Dash seemed about to give a retort, before she simply snorted. "See ya, egghead. Have fun reading." With that, she gave her friend a smirk before taking off into the sky, disappearing from Twilight's line of sight. This didn't register to the purple mare, her brows already furrowed in thought as she made her way to the library. After a few minutes of walking, she reached her destination, opening the door and entering. She had plans to make. She was going to learn about Dash's past in Cloudsdale, so what better way to do that than to take her there and stir up some memories? Paper and quill quickly came to her side, and Twilight smiled, sitting down in front of a desk she had set up, humming to herself as she set to work. Author's Notes And here it is, the feature presentation of my profile! Well, the first, anyways. This'll be a long one, and it'll definitely be enjoyable to write! As I'm sure you all have noticed, it's a TwiDash, but I've decided that, rather than focusing on the relationship where the feelings are generally already there, as in most TwiDash stories I've seen, I'm going to take a page from one of the stories that I absolutely love, and have most of the story take place when the feelings are being formed in the first place. I've always enjoyed seeing two come closer together, the full transition from friendship to love present. Especially in a TwiDash, since they seem to work so well together, both as friends and lovers. Hopefully this story will give a good presentation of that. For those of you wondering, the story I got the very first premise of this idea from is Synchronicity. It is a wonderful fic, and I encourage those of you who enjoy TwiDash along with a slightly spooky atmosphere to read it, if you haven't already. But for now, I certainly hope that those of you who stick with this story enjoy as I continue it! As always, feedback is very much appreciated.