MLP: The School Years
Part IV: Rain on the Farm
Part 1
Tori stepped out of the shower, toweling off her hair. She wrapped the towel around her and opened the bathroom door, shivering as the cold air from outside hit her. Looking down the hallway to make sure no one was there, she raced to her room and shut the door behind her. It gets cold here in the fall, she thought. She slipped into her pajamas and put on a pair of slippers that were a gift from Rachel, purple with little stars on them.
Life in a dorm was sure different than living on her own. She had gotten quite a shock one day when Dash nearly walked in on her in the shower, and since then she learned to lock the bathroom door whenever she was in there. Then there was the noise, not ever loud enough to be annoying but there nonetheless, whether it was music or talking. Tori was used to the silence of the library, and this noise…Tori paused. What was that noise? She got off the bed and pressed her ear against the wall. That was classical music, coming from…Dash’s room?
She walked out of her room and softly knocked on Dash’s door. No one answered and the music continued. Tori slowly pushed open the door and peeked into Dash’s room. The walls were a sky blue color, with occasional clouds painted on them and a large rainbow stretching across between two of the clouds. Taped to the walls were numerous posters of fighter jets and airplanes, along with a giant poster of six people standing in track uniforms, with a banner underneath that read “The Wonderbolts: Distance Team”. Dash herself was sitting on her bed, cross-legged, holding onto…was that a violin? Tori squinted. That was a violin, and Dash was playing it!
Dash all of the sudden glanced up and saw Tori standing in the door. She hastily dropped the violin back into its case and covered it up. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Oh…” Tori said, stammering like Phoebe, “I…well…That was beautiful! I didn’t know that you could play like that! When did you start?”
“You know that it’s rude to just walk into people’s rooms like that.” Dash pulled the case out from under the blankets and properly closed it and put it away under her bed. As she was doing so, Tori noticed Dash’s laptop, which was open and on screensaver. The picture up on the screen was one of Dash and Gilda, hugging each other close and smiling. Dash looked up and followed Tori’s gaze. Her face darkened and she shut the laptop, withdrawing slightly.
Tori noticed the change is Dash’s mood. “You miss her, don’t you?” She sat down on the bed next to Dash and placed an arm around her shoulder. “It’s okay, you can talk to me.”
“I don’t know…She was a jerk, treating everyone like she did. I mean, I’m glad that I ended that relationship, but at the same time…” She trailed off, looking sad.
“I’m sorry Dash; I didn’t mean to bring it back up.”
“It’s fine…don’t worry about it.” She sniffed turned to Tori, “So…was there something that you wanted, or were you just spying on me?”
“Well…spying I guess. Why haven’t you told anyone that you can play violin?”
Dash glanced at where the case was under the bed, “Because I don’t want anyone to know. My parents made me start playing when I was younger, but I wasn’t one for girly things like that. I’d much rather have been outside running around and playing, so I would always get mad at them for forcing me to play. But it has such a soothing sound when you play it right that I could never stay mad for long.” Dash looked fondly at where the case lay under her bed. “Nowadays I only really play it to calm me down.” She grinned sheepishly. “That probably sounds real stupid, right?”
“No, that makes sense, and it’s not silly. You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine! Just leave it…okay?”
Tori held up her hands in defeat, “Okay, okay…fine.” They sat in silence for a moment, then Tori spoke up, “Hey Dash, I have a question that’s been bugging me for a while now.”
Dash laughed, “You asking me a question? What kind of question could an egghead like you need to ask someone like me?”
“Egghead? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that all you do is study and read books! You need to get out and live a bit more, not stay in your room or the library reading!”
Tori scoffed, “I’ll have you know that I enjoy reading and studying, and I read outside sometimes, so it’s not like I’m always cooped up in the building.”
Dash smirked at her, “Okay, fine. Whatever you say…egghead. Now, what was that important question that you needed to ask me about or whatever?”
“Well…I noticed back when we first met you seemed to be, to put it bluntly, hitting on me. But back then you were still…well, in a relationship. I just thought that it was weird, that’s all.”
“I wasn’t hitting on you!” said Dash, blushing slightly. “I was being friendly is all. Plus you really aren’t my type, too bookish for me. Although you are kinda cute.” Tori blushed at that last statement and Dash laughed again, “Calm down, I’m not interested in you like that. Besides, aren’t you already taken?”
“By who?” asked Tori, confused.
“Aren’t you and Spike an item? I mean, he is kinda young, but who am I to question someone else’s tastes?”
“Ewwww! No way! Spike’s just a very good friend, we basically grew up together. His father and mine are childhood friends and became business partners, so whenever he was over, so was Spike. I’ve known him since he was only five.”
“Oh,” said Dash. “That’s cool.” She glanced at the clock and started, “Oh wow…I didn’t realize that it had gotten so late! I have to practice tomorrow, so I need sleep. Good night!”
Tori stood and walked over to the door. She turned back to Dash, “Don’t forget Dash; if you ever need to talk to someone about…you know…then I’m here for you.”
“I won’t,” came Dash’s reply.
* * *
The next day, Tori walked into the common room after a long day of classes. Professor Luna had assigned them another project, and Tori was eager to get started. Sitting on the couch in the common room was Rachel, Penelope, and AJ, and they seemed to be in the middle of a conversation. Well, more like an argument.
“Ah’m tellin’ ya!” AJ was saying, heatedly. “There’s nothin’ wrong with her. She’s perfectly fine!”
“And I’m telling you,” Rachel responded, just as heated. “She’s still feeling down about it. More than down in fact, I would say that she’s outright depressed.”
“How can you possibly think that somethin’s the matter with that girl? She hasn’t acted a mite bit different than she normally acts. So unless you got some fancy-schmancy way of tellin’ other people’s emotions…”
“It’s called common sense!” interrupted Rachel. “I don’t know how on earth you can walk around being so blind to everyone else around you. She was acting different, you just didn’t see it.”
“Well if yer soooooo good at it, why not inform us as t’ what you saw.”
Rachel humphed and crossed her arms in front of her. “As a matter of fact, I will. If you noticed, which I assume you didn’t, Dash wasn’t at all excited for her practice today. Normally she goes on and on about what she’s going to do during it. But today, there was barely a mention of it. Furthermore, if you had paid attention to the way she walked you would see that she was slumped over, like something was weighing on her. Honestly, you call yourself her friend yet you can barely tell her mood.”
Tori cut into the conversation before things could get any more heated. “Whoa there girls! What’s going on here?”
“I dunno…” answered Penelope, arching her neck backwards to look at Tori. “Rachel and AJ are fighting about something.”
“Rachel’s suggestin’ that Dash is all depressed and whatnot after breakin’ up with Gilda,” said AJ, folding her arms across her chest. “An’ I don’ believe it, not one bit.”
“That’s because you are completely blind to other people’s emotions!” retorted Rachel, frowning. “You wouldn’t know what a bad mood looked like if it hit you in the face.”
As if on cue, the door to the common room opened and Dash walked through, her track bag slung over her shoulder and a dejected look on her face. She took a quick look at everyone gathered in the common room and then began walking towards her room. “Dash!” Tori said quickly. “How was your practice?”
Dash gave a noncommittal grunt and kept moving, closing the door to her room behind her. Rachel gave a knowing look at AJ, who harrumphed and looked away. “I told you so…Something’s obviously bothering Dash, and it’s up to us as her friends to find out and help her out with it.”
“Fine…Ah’ll go an’ talk to her, if that’ll getcha to quit nagging at me.” AJ stood up and straightened her hat, then stopped for a second upon catching the incredulous look on Rachel’s face. “Don’t worry…ah’ll be tactful about it.” Then, without waiting for Rachel’s reply, AJ walked over to Dash’s door and began to hammer on it. “Ah’m coming in Dash, don’ you even say no.” With that, AJ opened the door to the room and stepped in, closing it behind her.
Rachel sighed. “If that was her being tactful, I’d hate to see what she’s like when she’s being obvious about it.” The others laughed a bit and Rachel smiled, pleased at her joke.
* * *
As AJ shut the door behind her, she realized that the lights were off and the curtains drawn, casting a cyan glow around the room. Dash herself was sitting on her bed, staring at a photograph in a small, heart shaped frame. Upon hearing the door close, she looked up to see AJ standing in the doorway. “Howdy there…mind if I take a seat?” Dash shook her head no and AJ walked over and sat on the bed next to Dash. She tried to look at the picture in the frame, but Dash placed it face down on her desk. “How’re ya feelin’, sugarcube?”
Dash sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. “I’m fine…never been better.”
AJ gave Dash a level look. “Now that’s a lie and you know it. Somethin’s bothering you Dashie an’ it’s tearing you up.” She looked at the picture frame on the desk and frowned. “It’s Gilda, isn’t it…you’re missin’ her something fierce.”
“No…It’s not that…It’s just…” Dash looked away from AJ and at the window, then turned and gripped AJ in a large hug. Then, to AJ’s surprise, Dash began crying into AJ’s chest.
AJ awkwardly patted Dash’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. “It’s okay…You can miss her.”
“I was a complete fool, AJ…I turned away one of my closest friends and ruined a relationship that was perfect for me.” She broke out into sobs again and buried her face deeper into AJ’s chest.
“You were a fool fer not seein’ that Gilda was a two-faced, lyin’…well…that Gilda wasn’t the one fer you!” Dash looked up at AJ, sniffling. “What are ya goin’ on about ‘you two were th’ perfect match’? You two couldn’t be more different than apples and oranges, an’ trust me on that. Dashie…yer one of the sweetest people I know, a little callous and rebellious sure, but still. Gilda wasn’t the one fer you, you’re too loyal of a person for someone like Gilda to really like.”
Dash sniffed and wiped her eyes. “You…you really mean that AJ?”
“Every word true as the sun rises every day, sugarcube!” She pushed Dash upright on the bed and looked her in the eyes. “Ah think that what you need is a little vacation. What d’ya say t’ comin’ over to my farm for the rest of the day t’ help out?”
“How is that a vacation? It sounds like you’re just trying to get some free labor on your farm.”
AJ playfully shoved Dash. “Ah’m trying to do you a favor by gettin’ you out of this dorm and away from any depressin’ memories!”
Dash sighed and stood from the bed, sifting through piles of clothes to find something heavier. She pulled on an old track jacket and looked around for her other shoe. “Well? Aren’t you gonna call Mac or something like that so we don’t have to walk the entire way there?”
AJ nodded and walked out of the room, followed shortly afterwards by Dash. Everyone in the common room remained silent as they passed, then broke out chatting again the moment they both had left. Tori sighed and shouldered her backpack. “I’ll be back later, everyone. I need to go to the library to start on that project that Professor Luna assigned us.”
“But that’s not due for weeeeekkkkssss!!” said Penelope, arching her head backwards to see Tori.
“It never hurts to be prepared, girls! You can do what you want, but I’m going to start working now.” With that, Tori waved goodbye to everyone and walked out of the door, en route to the library.
Author's Note:
This is Part 1 of this Chapter...I've made y'all wait long enough for it...I'm still working on the other half, so don't freak out. It'll be delayed, because of schoolwork being a really large part of my days now, but I'll try and get this second part done fast. Thank you all so much for sticking with it so much!
-Æther