//------------------------------// // Calm Before the What-Now? // Story: Twice as Bright // by Cloudy Skies //------------------------------// “And she’s up for it? Just like that?” Rainbow Dash asked. The book she’d been reading sailed in an arc over her shoulders, forgotten while the pegasus peered over the rim of the bookcase that was her perch. Twilight didn’t even comment; a magical glow seized the book and re-shelved it with precision that bespoke unwilling practice. “Yeppers! Just like that,” Pinkie said. She kicked the door shut behind her and trotted into the library proper. She’d smiled all the way home from Canterlot, and at present, she wasn’t quite sure she could ever stop. “I don’t actually know what you mean with ‘like that’, but we’re going out on a date, so if that’s what you mean, you’re right!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Oh my gosh, that is awesome. You’re going out with Princess Celestia! How?” “That’s what I said, and that was exactly what I meant to say when I said she said yes, wow, it’s like you can read my lips! Or, well, my words.” Pinkie tilted her head and beckoned her friend down, trotting them both a little closer to the desk behind which Twilight sat. So far, the unicorn had said rather little, but watched and listened. “And how?” Pinkie stuck her tongue out while she thought, scratching her head to try to stir her brain into action. It wasn’t quite the same as a pound of sugar, but it’d have to do. “I talked, I think. I told her everything! Some things, anyway. I didn’t tell her all my secrets. I didn’t tell her that Fluttershy makes cute noises in her sleep and that sometimes I sneak into her bedroom to poke her, or that I actually ate twenty-seven corn cakes, but a mare’s gotta have some mystery, right? I read that in a book.” “Sure.” Rainbow Dash grinned and shook her head, but frowned soon after when her attention fell upon the silent unicorn. “Hey, Twilight? Why aren’t you freaking out or whatever? Are you hearing this?” Twilight’s mouth hung open for a moment. “I... that’s not fair,” she said. She sighed and sank down to lean against the desk, turning to face Pinkie Pie. “It’s not in my place to ‘freak out’ anyway, and I’m happy for you, I really am. It’s a little weird, sure, but I’m here for you.” Pinkie giggle-snorted, a broad grin on her face as she trotted around the writing desk to throw a leg around Twilight’s neck. “That’s really nice of you, but it doesn’t have to be weird or silly or strange; you don’t have to call me ‘dad!’” Dash’s snickering was a faint backdrop to the sheer un-noise of Twilight’s extreme lack of expression and the flatness of her tone. “Pinkie Pie? She’s not my mother.” “Aw okay. Uncle then!” Twilight ground her forehead with a hoof. “That’s not how it works.” Pinkie hopped up and down. “Ooh, but it does work? I win!” Rather than groan, roll her eyes, or do any of the other little gestures Pinkie had grown accustomed to, Twilight gave a little giggle and shook her head. She even smiled. It was enough to give a pink earth mare pause and ask consider if perhaps she’d finally driven her friend crazy. “I’m sure it’ll work out fine,” Twilight said, leaning to touch her head to Pinkie’s. The quiet only lasted until interrupted by the creak of the Library’s front door and Rainbow Dash’s voice soon after. “Hey Rarity, Pinkie’s going on a date!” Rarity paused at the threshold, a pony frozen in time for the a fraction of a second. The book she’d been levitating at her side dropped dangerously close to the ground before it was whisked away by a burst of Twilight’s magic. At Pinkie’s side, the unicorn muttered something about disrespect for literature. “Well, this is news,” Rarity said, slowly approaching the other three. “Am I right to assume that this is a result of yet another one of your visits to Canterlot? A date with—” “Princess Celestia!” Dash blurted, her grin almost matching Pinkie’s. Pinkie Pie nodded and ran over to bump snouts with Rarity. “What she said! I was all, ‘hey, do you wanna eat marshmallows with me sometime?’ and she was all ‘sure thing Pinkie, you’re the best’! Except it didn’t happen like that at all, but I did bake her cookies before I went home!” “I’m sure,” Rarity said. She levitated out a handkerchief from her mane to wipe her snout before smiling back at her. “Well, that’s simply the most delightful news I’ve heard all day, then! Have you begun preparing? Do you have plans for what to wear at all? You do realize I would delight in designing something new for you to wear, and if you need brush up on—ah, rather, if you want some pointers in basic etiquette, I’m sure I can try to help with that.” Pinkie Pie squinted. Making squinty eyes didn’t actually help her think by itself, but it made the world a little smaller, and with less to look at, it was slightly easier to pin her brain to task. “Dresses? Eaty-whats? Aw, maybe? I was just gonna wing it!” Rarity stared as if the words simply failed to find their way into her ears. A very subtle frown crossed her features, one that bespoke an incoming crisis of faith. “You... plan on going out with a princess without any preparations and with not so much as a single curled eyelash?” “Nuh-uh,” Pinkie said, giggling. “I’m not going out with a princess, I’m dating Celestia!” While Rarity didn’t seem able to find words for the moment, Twilight trotted around her desk. “I think all Rarity means is that you of course want the date to go well. I don’t think that, I, ah,” she gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. “I guess doing everything by the book isn’t the most—isn’t the only important thing.” Pinkie Pie shrugged. “Sure? I mean, yeah, I do, I totally do want to have a super time, but I really just wanna hang out more with her. If she wants to go on a date with me, she’ll go on a date with me, and that’s exactly who I am!” Twilight gave a small nod and a smile, while Rarity scratched one leg with the other and coughed. “Well, I can’t argue with that,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “I simply don’t get an opportunity like this very often, and I would so love to help.” “Aw, that’s okay. It’s next weekend, so you have plenty of time to try to convince me to try that eaty thing and maybe make some kind of neat action dress so neat, I won’t be able to say no!” Pinkie gasped. “Maybe you can make a pink stealth suit with wings? That would be so cool!” Rarity smiled in the way she did when Pinkie had said something particularly silly, though Pinkie couldn’t quite tell what that might have been. “I’m certain we can reach some sort of, ah, compromise.” “Next week?” Dash asked. “Where’re you taking her? Ponyville Cinema’s showing The Return of Krastos on Friday!” “I don’t think that’s what the princess has in mind,” Twilight said, laughing. “Sorry, Rainbow, but I think she’d be more interested in a proper play.” “Or perhaps a symphonic piece,” Rarity said. Dash rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out. “Oh. I’m not taking her. She’s taking me,” Pinkie said. “She asked me if I minded her arranging and fixing everything up nice because everything we’ve done so far has been my kinda stuff, and then she got a really clever look on her face and I kind of lost track because I started wondering if her cutie mark is hot like the sun and then she asked me why I was staring at her butt. After that we decided to get back to making cookies in the royal kitchen. The chef with the biggest hat was really nice!” “I see,” Twilight said in a tone that suggested she did, in fact, not see at all. Pinkie decided not to argue the point all the same. “Well. I, for one, find that rather romantic, in an odd, roundabout sort of way, ignoring that very last part about flanks,” Rarity said, leaning over to give Pinkie a brief hug. “I do hope you’ll forgive my earlier misgivings. None of us are infallible, I suppose.” “I don’t know about that,” Pinkie said, leaning back against Rarity. She closed her eyes and buried her head in the purple mane of her friend; Rarity’s mane was far softer than it looked, and she so rarely got the chance to snuggle it. “You say lots of really clever things. I’m still thinking about what you said about ponies with bigger smiles on the inside,” she said, poking her head out of Rarity’s mane to smile at Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “Can you imagine how big the smile Celestia is keeping bottled up is?” Rarity made a little noise not entirely unlike the little squeals Twilight tended to make when a new shipment of books arrived from the Royal Library, and a set of surprisingly strong legs squeezed around Pinkie’s neck, making her giggle. Dash, for her part, looked away and waved a hoof in dismissal, and Twilight said nothing, dropping her eyes with a smile. “You simply must give me all the details when you return,” Rarity said, finally letting go. “Right now, however, I need to give Fluttershy and Applejack the news!” “Sure!” Pinkie Pie said. “You can try to make me wear a dress later, and then we can make a totally not at all planned round of hide and seek in your boutique!” Rarity didn’t smile quite as bright at that. Rather, one of the corners of her mouth desperately tried to tug the other one along for the ride while she made for the door. “Until then!” Once Rarity had left and the door closed behind her, Rainbow Dash stretched her entire body, then her wings one by one. “Anyways, it’s getting late. I’m gonna head home for a nap unless you guys need me for anything.” Twilight chuckled. “As invaluable as you’ve been in creating a mess here, I think I’m ready to let you go. Seriously though, thank you for the company.” “Hey, no problem. Thanks for the food.” Dash grinned. “Need you for anything,” Pinkie repeated, rolling her jaw. “Hm. I can’t think of anything either. Oh, wait! That’s unless you wanna come along for the date!” Rainbow Dash gave a short burst of laughter. “Pinkie, you really have no clue how dates work, do you? I don’t care about that sort of junk, but even I know—” “Of course I do!” Pinkie said. “I meant like a double date! That’d twice as datealicious.” Twilight shook her head and gathered the books spread out over her desk into a neat stack. “Last time I checked, Rainbow Dash didn’t have a special somepony in her life,” she said, though she raised a brow and peered over at the pegasus even as she spoke. “You could ask Luna out!” Pinkie beamed. “She’s always around the castle. Or is it a palace? I keep forgetting, but I know where her bedroom is!” A smirk slowly spread across Rainbow Dash’s face. “I’m liking that idea.” Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Really funny, you two. I’m not going to take the bait this time.” Dash’s grin disappeared in an instant. The pegasus poked her own chest, the very image of indignation. “What? Why do you think I haven’t been around that much lately, huh? Rarity gave me some books about dating, and come on, Luna’s totally hot.” “You—” Twilight sputtered. “You what? I—no, I mean, of course it’s none of my business, but I—” Rainbow Dash said nothing, simply staring at Twilight with the tiniest and most devious smile Pinkie had seen in a long while. Slowly, Twilight’s protests petered out until the unicorn’s ears lay flat against her head. She flicked her tail once and snorted. “Okay. Fine. You got me.” “Too easy,” Dash snickered, making for the door. “Catch you later.” Pinkie Pie paused by the door. It was already dark outside, but she’d not feared the dark for a very long time. Besides, Ponyville was still alive with plenty of ponies milling about; some were heading to meet with friends, she imagined. Some were coming home from work, a rare few were heading to work, and perhaps a few of the pairs of ponies who walked down mane street were on their way to some date-y place like the movies, the park, or a very comfy couch. She was most certainly not afraid of the dark, and she had plenty to do. Back home at Sugarcube Corner, Gummy would be anxious to hear all about her Canterlot trip. Oh sure, Gummy pretended he didn’t care, and sometimes he barely even blinked when Pinkie told him the most amazing things, but she knew that he loved it deep in his little gator-heart. When that was all done, she needed to head straight to bed to get plenty of rest if she was to get up early in the morning—no less than three ponies had their birthdays tomorrow, and she was sure that Lily would appreciate a surprise birthday muffin delivered to her when she left her home for work at six thirty-five in the morning. And still she lingered in the doorway. She wasn’t actually quite sure if it counted as lingering if nopony had asked her to leave, demanded she leave, or physically tried to shove her out the door, but the quality of the silence felt very linger-y. Something else kept her. Almost as confusing as the odd and tingly feeling that made her linger was the fact that Twilight hadn’t even commented. The unicorn stood at her side in silence, just like she had ever since Rainbow Dash had left a few minutes earlier. “Are you okay?” If Pinkie Pie were to be honest, those words could have belonged to either of them, but it had definitely been Pinkie herself who asked. Twilight looked like she wanted to say something, only she didn’t. “Hm? Yeah. I’m fine, I just...” Twilight trailed off, licking her lips, swallowing, sighing and shaking her head with such mechanical precision, part of Pinkie Pie wanted to applaud. The unicorn’s expression suggested that she wasn’t looking for applause. “Listen, Pinkie. I know I said this before, but I’m really sorry I made such a big deal out of this... this everything.” Pinkie shrugged and bumped her flank against Twilight’s. “S’okay, silly!” “It’s not,” Twilight said. “It really isn’t. It was disrespectful to you and to Princess Celestia. It was childish. I’m better than that. I didn’t mean to mumh fh—” Pinkie Pie tilted her head and leaned in close. When she put a hoof under Twilight’s lower muzzle and pushed, Twilight’s mouth closed. It did wonders in stopping the nonsense from tumbling out of her friend. “You’re being silly, and everything is okay, okay?” Twilight looked indignant for a second, pulling away from Pinkie’s hoof, but at length she nodded. Slowly at first, her repeated nods eventually came with conviction. “Right. Okay. Just believe me when I say I’m happy for you. For both of you.” Pinkie smiled and touched her snout to Twilight’s. “Of course I do.” Twilight rubbed at her face with the nook of a leg. “I’m still going to insist on making it up to you somehow, but, uh, so. Are you okay? It looked like you zoned out there for a little bit.” Pinkie had a simple answer for that. Most of her was ready to shout “of course!” and hug Twilight—perhaps reach inside one of her nearby party stashes and add some confetti for added effect. Most, but not all of her. A tiny part argued that she wasn’t entirely super-duper completely sure, like a piece of carrot in a chunk of nougat. “Probably,” Pinkie said. Twilight sat down and perked her ears, and it made Pinkie feel a little less silly for her own uncertainty. “What do you call it when you feel very, very good, but at the same time, there’s this, um,” Pinkie bit her lower lip and clopped her hooves together, searching for words with which to pin this strange thing down. “It’s not-good, but not entirely bad either, like you’re not sure about something that’s going to happen, and you like it, but at the same time—nuts, this is super hard.” Twilight’s expression immediately softened. The unicorn scooted a little closer and couldn’t quite stifle a giggle, but it was the nicest laughter Pinkie had heard in a long while and it came with a small grin to boot. “I think most would call that nervousness or fear. Perhaps ‘trepidation’ if you want to be specific. Does that sound familiar?” Pinkie Pie sighed through her nose. “Well, I don’t like it. Or maybe I do. That’s what’s silly about this. I can’t decide! It’s almost like the pre-party jitters, but with less sugar. I’m not supposed to worry, Twilight!” Twilight nodded and leaned in against Pinkie Pie. It helped a lot more than it should against the faint chill seeping in from the open door. “I don’t think it’s that strange, but it’s not a problem unless you let it stop you, and the Pinkie Pie I know is going to be eager to head over to Canterlot and find out how this all goes.” “Oh.” Pinkie sat down, peered down at her own tummy, and gave it a little prod. “The date. Yeah, that’s probably it. For a second I thought it was about the birthday muffins I’m baking tomorrow, but this makes loads more sense—aw, and it’s totally worry-ful too. Can we go back to me not realizing?” “You said it yourself, when Princess Celestia herself says ‘be yourself’, well, having good advice in the form of a royal decree, you can’t beat that. What’s there to worry about? You’ll be fine.” Twilight’s smile was so sincere and honest, it was tempting to agree, but now that the world was slowing down a tiny bit—when the smell of fresh-baked cookies faded and there were fewer ponies in the room than Pinkie had hooves—it was a little too easy to answer that. “I guess,” Pinkie muttered. “But being Pinkie Pie also means that sometimes, I’m a teensy tiny bit silly in a bad way, too, and I don’t want to be. I don’t ever mean to be mean, but sometimes, you can hurt somepony by saying things they don’t want to hear. Inconsiderate.” Twilight’s reply was a tilt of her head. Pinkie perked her ears, glad to be able to teach her friend something. “It’s was the word of the day on your calendar Monday last week, it means—” “I know what the word means, Pinkie. I just wonder who would ever say these things about you.” “Oh, nopony. I just thought that since things almost didn’t go as great as they did for a little bit—” “Inconsiderate. The pony who took my stupid words so seriously it hurt her?” Twilight asked, crossing her forelegs. “The pony who spends every day trying to make others smile? The mare who can't sleep unless she's thrown a party to make everypony else feel special, yet sometimes forgets her own name?” Pinkie Pie stuck her tongue out and slowly tilted her head sideways. Unless she had missed something, and she frequently did, they were nice words, but Twilight looked a little bit angry. “Pinkie Pie? Trust me. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I know you, and I know Princess Celestia.” “Ooh.” Pinkie Pie bounced up on all fours, grinning. “Does that mean you can help me cheat on my test by telling me all kinds of little secrets about her?” Twilight shook her head and rose to stand, indicating the door with a flick of her head before leaning over for a quick hug. “No, it means that it’s going to be fine, and that I’m not worried, which means you shouldn’t be, either. I’ll see you tomorrow—I got a couple of books you can read about formal etiquette and everything if you really want them, but right now, it’s goodnight.”