It was close to midnight, as two ponies and one dragon finally re-entered the dark library. They had bade the outwardly calm and collected Fluttershy goodnight, after a few mugfuls of tea and much retelling of the last few days’ goings-on. Owloysius was away on one of his night-time excursions, leaving the library silent and still.

Spike yawned, as the door swung shut behind him. “I’m gonna hit the hay,” he mumbled, traipsing tiredly towards his bed. “Thanks again for coming after me, you two,” he called back at the foot of the staircase.

“’Night, Spike,” Twilight smiled at him, watching him as he collapsed into his little bed and, almost instantaneously, begin snoring.

“I think we all have,” Twilight replied, leaning on the pegasus for support, and stealing a kiss on the corner of her lips.

Dash giggled, affectionately nuzzling the unicorn behind the ear. “You are okay with me stayin’ here, aren’t ya?”

Twilight was a little surprised by the question. “Of course I am, I’m more than okay with it! Why?”

“Oh, y’know,” Dash was pleased with the response, but wanted to explain herself. “It’s not that I wouldn’t love to, it’s just I thought maybe you’d need some space. I don’t want ya to think I’m crowdin’ you.”

Twilight smiled, relieved that this had been the only thing to trouble Dash about staying at the library. “There’s no need to worry about that,” she said with a wink, and then her tone became a little more subdued. “I just hope you’re okay with this. I mean, it’s going to seem pretty stuffy for you, isn’t it? Stuck on the ground, in a library. Maybe we can get you a cloud in if you need something you can sleep on easier.”

Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “Never mind about that,” she grinned, “I like this place just fine. As for clouds, sure, they’re comfy. But give me a choice between a cloud, and a bed with you in it?” She snorted, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Pfft, no contest.”

Twilight blushed, partly at the pegasus’ words, but also because she found the gleeful spark in her eyes quite enchanting. “Oh, I’m sure I could get… creative with the cloud-walking spell, if you wanted,” she whispered.

“Maybe,” Dash chuckled, yawning widely, listening to Spike’s snores. “Probably not tonight, though… I reckon we should get some rest, too.”

“Good plan,” conceded Twilight, then a thought occurred to her. “I hope Fluttershy’s okay,” she said, in concern. “She must’ve been so scared.”

“Furious, more like,” corrected Dash. “Did ya see her hammering that blue one?” She smirked. “I wouldn’t wanna get on her bad side. She’ll be fine; she’s made of tougher stuff than you’d think.”

“Can’t argue with that, I guess,” nodded Twilight. “I’d still like to check on her tomorrow, though.” She could feel her eyelids drooping, and leaned back against Dash to keep her balance. "Come on, then. Let’s get to bed.”

Fluttershy was muttering quietly, as she readied herself for sleep. Her eyes were consistently drawn towards her forehooves. She had felt angry before, but it had usually been born of frustration or sheer indignation. This had been different, hearing those threats leveled at Spike. She had never been so prepared to physically injure somepony before. Not for years…

Her fur stood on end simply at the memory of those words, and the shadow of that cold anger froze her mind for a moment. She shivered, remembering the tremors shuddering through her legs, as her hooves made jarring contacts with the stallion’s face and body. Fortunately enough, Twilight had volunteered to magically siphon the small flecks of blood from out of the rug before leaving, so at least the physical reminder of her behaviour was washed away. Strangely, it was her own actions that frightened her infinitely more than the danger to her safety, or the invasion of her home.

If she was honest with herself, it had felt good. The memory was now a painful one, but at the time, feeling the sense of power, of enacting justice, it had been intoxicating. Just like the last time this had happened.

Forcefully, she lay down hard on the bed, throwing the covers over herself and closing her eyes. Don’t think about that.

For what seemed like hours, she tossed and turned, unable to keep herself from remembering. She could not identify the moment when her memories morphed fluidly into dreams.

Dash’s eyelids drifted slowly open, and she smiled as she saw the unicorn lying beside her. They had heard nothing from either Sunset or Celestia as yet, and so they had got to work. It was surprising, in a way. Dash had never expected the Twilight would be training her in flying. She knew perfectly well that if she could perfect this technique, then the record would not only be within her grasp; it would be almost easy.

They had spent most of the previous day in the fields around Ponyville, practicing hard. Dash was still finding it difficult to separate flight from muscle memory, but the training time was time well spent, and she was already making visible progress.

She had taken Twilight flying again the previous night. The air had been warmer, and it had been a completely different experience now that she was no longer worrying about her wings. She had been able to direct her entire attention to the sky, and to the mare in her hooves. For a few moments, she simply lay there, her eyes euphorically glazed as she remembered.

Dash giggled to herself as she realized that, for once, she had woken up before Twilight. That had to be a first. The unicorn seemed to find their flying sessions even more tiring then Dash did, not being used to the exhilaration or the height. Dash shifted a little, trying not to disturb the unicorn. Her forehooves were loosely draped around Twilight’s stomach from behind, and she could feel the gentle rise and fall of her lover's breathing. She was glad that Fluttershy knew, although thus far they had not found an opportune moment in which to tell their other friends. They both knew that they would have to soon, however.

Fluttershy had seemed a little distant when they had visited. Although she had professed to be fine, it seemed as if she were trying to convince herself as much as them. The canary pegasus had seemed almost haunted. They were all eagerly awaiting news from Celestia, and today they planned to send her a letter announcing their intent to conduct an air-speed record attempt at some point in the relatively near future.

Outside the window, the birds were amassed in a rousing chorus, and Dash guessed that it must be nearly ten in the morning. It was probably time to get up, as testified by a growl from her stomach. Gently leaning forwards, she kissed the back of Twilight’s neck, feeling the unicorn’s back leg twitch in her sleep in response. “Twi,” she whispered in her marefriend’s ear.

The unicorn mumbled something incoherent, rolling a little over towards Dash, but not opening her eyes. Slowly, she turned her head, and her eyelids flickered. Smiling, Dash kissed her neck again, trailing her lips upwards, and then nuzzling along Twilight’s jawbone. The half-asleep mare blushed a little, biting her lip.

“I think I like getting woken like that…” Twilight murmured, slowly opening her eyes.

“Thought ya might,” Dash winked at her, looking up into her eyes. “I thought I’d get some stuff over from my place today, if that’s okay.”

Twilight smiled, sleepily. “Sure, that’s fine.” Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. “Hey, will the clouds be alright? They won’t drift or anything if you’re away for a while?”

“Nah,” Dash shook her head. “I built that place well.” She stretched her forehooves out a little. “Want me to fix some breakfast? You seem pretty done in.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said, gratefully. “I must be, you never wake up first, usually.”

“Lazy habits die hard, I guess,” Dash smirked, beginning to extricate herself from the duvet in order to get out of bed.

“Just one last thing,” Twilight said, reaching out to stop her from getting up. “Thanks for taking me flying again yesterday. I love sharing that with you.” Twilight knew that the sky was where Dash found her solace. It was the one place where she could be alone, and comfortable in her own company. It was her world, her sanctuary. It meant a lot to Twilight that Dash trusted her enough to take her by the hoof and let her into such a personal place.

Dash could see how much it meant to the unicorn, and smiled warmly at her. “The sky’s just empty space without you,” she said, quietly and sincerely.

Twilight looked back at her, wide-eyed, unable to articulate a worthy response. She tightened her grip on Dash’s shoulder, pulling her into a deep kiss. Dash did not resist. To her, their every kiss felt like the first. After a few moments, they broke apart, their eyes singing. “I love you, Rainbow,” Twilight whispered.

“I love you too,” said Dash. She took a deep breath of the unicorn's scent, and sighed happily, relishing the sensation of their coats pressed tightly together, before unwillingly pulling away from the embrace, and standing up.

Twilight had to admit, Dash knew how to construct an excellent breakfast. She was currently four hay waffles deep, and was showing no signs of stopping, as Dash looked on in impressed amusement, seated on the opposite side of the kitchen table. Spike was having a weekend lie-in, and had appeared briefly in the kitchen, following the smell of cooking, before retreating to bed with a plateful of Dash’s handiwork.

“Before I go around to my place, do ya reckon we should draft that letter to Celestia?” Dash asked, thoughtfully.

Twilight chewed for a few moments, hurriedly swallowing. “Good idea.” She nodded. “All the things like record attempts go through Celestia anyway, so it’s best we let her know early.” She speared another chunk of waffle, munching enthusiastically. “Seriously, where’d you learn to make these? They’re amazing.”

Dash smirked. “Natural talent. Good thing they’re not too amazing, though. Who’d want a waffle cutie mark?”

Twilight snorted with laughter. “True. I’d say keep the lightning bolt, it suits you better.”

Still grinning, she magically levitated a quill and a roll of parchment to the table in front of her, pushing the now-empty plate to one side with a hoof. Then, she paused. “This record... Are you sure about it? Don’t you think it might be a bit… Dangerous?”

“Because of Sunset. I know they’ve gone quiet, but doing this? It kind of feels like we’re poking a beehive with a stick.”

“Yeah,” Dash shrugged, “but we’re gonna try and book the Cloudiseum for the measured mile, aren’t we? You can do your cloud-walking trick, but any unicorns would stick out a mile in Cloudsdale.” She leaned forwards, conspiratorially. “Besides. If they try anything, it might be a good thing. Celestia’s bound to have guards there. We might just round up a few more.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock. “Hang on a second,” she exclaimed, “I don’t want you putting yourself up as bait like that! None of this’d be happening if it wasn’t for my experiment. You’re not putting yourself in danger over it.”

“Relax, Twi’.” Dash sighed, trying to find a way to talk Twilight around. “If it wasn’t for this experiment, my Dad’d still be messin’ my life up. I’d be goin’ for this record anyway, and if we manage to get a couple of Sunset nutters into the bargain, it’s just a bonus, isn’t it?” She thumped a hoof enthusiastically on the table. “Better still, it shows Sunset that we’re not scared of them!”

“I guess…” Twilight muttered, trying to make up her mind. “Fine,” she said at last, “but I’m going to ask the Princess to station some guards around the place. You’re right, unicorns shouldn’t be hard to spot in Cloudsdale.”

Twilight did not smile, she was too nervous. “We’re on,” she replied. “I just hope I don’t regret it.” Trying to dispel her worries, she began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am writing to request permission for Rainbow Dash
to attempt to break the pegasus Air Speed Record.
I am aware that this is a strange time to attempt
such a thing, given recent events. However, it is
of utmost personal importance to Rainbow that she
conducts this attempt as soon as possible.

I understand that official pegasus record attempts
are usually held in the Cloudiseum in Cloudsdale,
and we thought that this would be a perfect venue,
considering how difficult it would be for a
unicorn to gain unauthorized access.

Myself and Rainbow both understand and accept
the possible risks involved with this attempt,
however we feel that it is too important
to put off for long, and also that it might be
better to conduct this while Sunset is still
presumably under-strength and surprised.
If the Cloudiseum is available sometime
over the next few weeks, I would greatly
appreciate it if you could inform me of possible days.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle.

P.S: Has the investigation against
Sunset borne any fruit yet?

Twilight finished writing, and glanced over the letter again. “What do you think?” She passed it over to Dash, who read it rapidly.

“Sounds good,” Dash nodded. “It might seem a bit weird, coming out of the blue like this, but I’m pretty sure the Princess’ll realize that we’ve got a good reason.”

Twilight took the parchment, and rolled it up into a scroll, sealing it with a magically-melted glob of wax. “I hope so.”

“Now,” Dash finished the last bite of her own breakfast, pushing her plate away, “I need to get some stuff from my place.” She smiled at Twilight. “If I’m gonna be stopping here for a while, there’s some stuff I’m gonna need.”

The afternoon was setting in over the town when Dash returned from her house, laden down with various bags and boxes of possessions. She wobbled to a landing in front of the library, and opened the door unsteadily. Twilight was shuffling through a stack of books, magically flicking them back onto the shelves for their respective topics.

She looked around as Dash entered, raising an eyebrow at the amount of baggage. “You can fly with that lot? I’m impressed.”

“Barely,” Dash wheezed, dumping the containers onto the rug, and beginning to sift through them. “Sorry about all this stuff, have you got someplace ya can put it all?”

Twilight left the book pile and trotted over, eyeing the pile. “There’s plenty of storage space,” she said, “but I don’t mind really. Put the bits and pieces wherever you need them, to be honest.”

“Really?” Dash perked up. “I thought untidy places annoyed you? Like really annoyed you.”

Twilight’s eye twitched slightly. “Okay, good point. I should say, put the bits and pieces wherever you need them, as long as they’re more-or-less symmetrical.”

Dash smirked, and gave a mock salute. “Aye-aye,” she said, gathering up some of the bags and tottering towards the stairs. At the top of the staircase, she called down to Twilight. “You’ve not heard from the Princess yet, have you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No luck, hopefully she’ll reply soon, though. Spike’s through in the back room, so whenever we get a reply, we’ll know.”

For a few moments, Dash disappeared upstairs, and there was the thump of several heavy objects being put down, then her head appeared again at the top of the stairs. “Do ya reckon I’ll be ready in time?”

“Huh?” Twilight had fallen to toying with the pile of books again, and the question took her by surprise. She looked around at Dash. “Of course you will,” she smiled. “Yesterday you were barely even thinking about your wings. I must admit it’s very impressive how fast you’ve unlearned your old habits.”

“Hey, what can I say? I’m the fastest at everything.” Dash leaned nonchalantly on the wall. There were a few moments of silence, in which Twilight raised one eyebrow a little, smirking. Dash winced, then rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Walked into that one, didn’t I?” She chuckled. “Anyway, hopefully I’m on track. When we’ve got a proper date set, it should be okay. I need to really put my flight to the test, though.” She paused for a second making up her mind. Then she nodded, in determination. “Tomorrow, I’m gonna try for a Rainboom. No wings.”

Twilight smiled. “Well, I’ll be cheering you on! Just be careful, it’ll be the first time you’ve come anywhere close to those speeds without using your wings.”

“I know,” Dash nodded, “but if I’m gonna go for the record I’ll have to go way past Rainboom speeds. Might as well start somewhere, eh?”

Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound emanating from the storeroom just off the main library. Both ponies turned to look in the direction of the door. A few moments later, Spike emerged, waving a sealed scroll. “It’s just come though! From the Princess,” he explained, a little redundantly. After all, nopony but the Princess could contact them via dragon-fire.

Eagerly, Dash trotted down the stairs to hear the news. Twilight took the scroll and unrolled it, reading with a furrowed brow.

My Dear Student, Twilight Sparkle,

I am more than happy to permit you the use of
the Cloudiseum for Rainbow Dash’s record attempt,
and I wish her the very best of luck for on the day.
I must confess to being surprised at this sudden
decision, but I trust your judgment in this matter.
The Cloudiseum is free in two weeks’ time,
on Saturday. I have informed the Mayor of Cloudsdale,
and he will doubtless deal with public relations
and also logistics, such as equipment, etc.

I would forewarn you to expect a significant
turnout of spectators to watch the event.
Regarding your safety, I would agree that it
would be difficult for a unicorn to infiltrate
the event, given the magical ability required
for the cloud-walking spell, and also the usual
absence of unicorns within Cloudsdale.
However, I intend to dispatch a unit of Royal Guards
to maintain security at the event, just in case.

With regards to Sunset, I was informed this morning
that the guards have possibly located one of their safehouses.
They are as yet unaware that they have been discovered.
A raid is planned for tonight. I will inform you
of the outcome as soon as I am aware of it.

With my best wishes,
Princess Celestia

“This is awesome!” she exclaimed. “Two weeks is perfect, we’ll have tons of time to get ready, and they’re gonna take down some more of Sunset!” She let out a breath. “Wow, those Royal Guard work fast. Really shouldn’t mess with the Princess, should ya?”

Twilight chuckled, secretly a little relieved that the record attempt had not turned out to be scheduled in two days time, or some other equally inadequate amount of preparation period.

Spike had been listening intently, and he too grinned at the news that some of his would-be kidnappers were probably about to be caught. “This is gonna be good,” he remarked.

Twilight rolled up the letter again, and dropped it down on the table. Her eyes were distant. She still felt a nagging sense of worry about the record attempt, something in the pit of her stomach that was not letting her rest. She tried to convince herself that she was being paranoid, but there the sensation stayed. She looked at the pegasus she loved, saw her standing so near, and looking so happy. She knew that she had done what she had set out to do; she had made Dash’s life a little bit brighter. She had given her memories that she could look back on untainted with pain or self hatred. But then, she imagined the day of the record attempt, two weeks away, and her stomach clenched with fear.

A Bluebird's Song

by Ardensfax

Hopes And Fears