//------------------------------// // Part 3 // Story: Change in Plans // by jessekruz //------------------------------// As the sun began to rise over the horizon, the morning rays peeked into the library's bedroom, landing right in Spike's eyes. This caused him to roll over, grumbling, but as he started to get up he noticed that Twilight was still sound asleep. Spike, forgetting that Twilight had lessons with Rainbow Dash today, decided that she was working too hard on her research and deserved some extra time to rest. With that, he made his bed quietly and headed down to the first floor of the library. As he made it down, he saw Owlowiscious reading a book on his perch. “Morning, Owlowiscious.” “Who?” “You.” “Who?” “You, Owlowiscious!” “Who!” “Oh, never mind!” he exclaimed in slight annoyance at the ordeal. “What is it that you have there?” He'd noticed a letter next to Owlowiscious. The baby dragon made his way over to where Owlowiscious was and grabbed the letter, reading the little note attached to it. “ I wonder what this letter is about?” he thought aloud after finishing. “It’s not like Twilight to keep secrets from me… I bet Twilight wouldn’t mind too much if I just took a quick peek...” he reasoned as he began to undo the ribbon around the letter. At that instant, Owlowiscious swooped down and grabbed the letter from Spike's clutches. “Yikes! Okay, Owlowiscious! Geez, I won’t read it. Take it easy next time, alright? Just hand it here so I can send it.” He was visibly shaking. When he finally calmed down, Owlowiscious gave him back the letter and Spike, true to his word, sent it straight to Princess Celestia. With that out of the way, Spike began his normal chores for the library, such as sweeping and reorganizing the books every so often. It was almost lunchtime by the time he was done. Noticing that Twilight still wasn’t up, he decided that maybe if she smelled food being cooked she would wake up and come down. As the delicious aroma began to waft up and into the bedroom, Twilight finally blinked her eyes open blearily. “I wonder what Spike is making for breakfast...” she yawned out. After stretching, she got out of bed and began to make her way downstairs, oblivious to the time. When she made it, she was met with the sweet smell of hay fries and grilled dandelion sandwiches. “Spike, why are you making food for lunch...? I figured you would be making breakfast.” she asked curiously. “What do you mean? It is lunch right now; I let you sleep in. You seemed really tired from all your studying, so I figured it would be best to let you sleep and I would do all the morning chores.” He smiled, sure that he'd done her a favor. “What?! It’s already lunchtime? I can’t believe that you let me sleep in, Spike!" she shrieked, "I have lessons with Rainbow Dash again today!” “Oh! I'm really sorry, Twilight, I completely forgot! It won’t happen again, I swear,” but before he'd finished, Twilight was already running out the door to where she was supposed to meet up with Rainbow Dash. “Wait! What about lunch?!” he yelled, hoping that she would hear him. However, realizing it was futile only a few seconds later, he continued, “Well... I guess more for me...” “Is that you, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo shouted at a cloud overhead, positive she'd seen a rainbow mane up there somewhere. “Hey, Scoots, what're you up to?” Rainbow Dash said as she leisurely jumped off the cloud and floated down. “Not much, Rainbow Dash! I've just been looking all over for you. Twilight said that you were training her this week and since I couldn’t find you yesterday, I figured I would ask if you could let me stay around and watch the lesson today.” “Of course, Scoots. You can always hang around; you're basically like a little sister to me.” Rainbow Dash ruffled Scootaloo's mane with a friendly smile. Scootaloo was now wearing one of the biggest smiles ever, perhaps bright enough to rival Pinkie's average grin. Finally calming down, Scootaloo replied, “Thank you, Rainbow Dash! I promise I won’t interfere at all.” “Good, 'cause based on yesterday's lesson, I'm gonna have to seriously focus to help Twi.” Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly, reminiscing all the crashes Twilight had managed yesterday. “I wonder where she is now... It's not like her to be late." Rainbow Dash commented, half annoyed at Twilight for breaking her Pinkie promise, and half worried for her friend's well-being. “Last time I saw her, she looked like she was about to pass out! I bet she ended up sleeping in.” Scootaloo chuckled at the thought. “I doubt it; Spike wakes her up every morning." Before Scootaloo had a chance to respond, Rainbow Dash spotted Twilight running toward them. “What took you so long? Did somepony have a book emergency that required a librarian?” “No. Spike forgot I had... lessons today and... decided to let me sleep in.” Twilight panted out. “Well... I guess you were right, Scootaloo.” Rainbow admitted. "I understand, but don’t let it happen again.” she finished. “Tonight, I promise to cast a spell that'll wake me up no matter what, just in case Spike decides to try and let me sleep in again.” “Okay. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind, but Scootaloo is going to be hanging around with us today.” “No, it's fine; it’s always great to see her,” Twilight beamed as she addressed the filly, “Hi, Scootaloo! How are you doing today?” “Good, especially since I get to spend the day with Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed happily. "...After yesterday's lesson," Rainbow spoke with sudden authority, "I figured you'd probably do better if we tried something even easier than hovering. So, what I would like to do is work on the more basic skills of flying: gliding and landing.” she puffed out her chest, where a bright red whistle stood out against her cyan coat. It only seemed to add on to her image as a coach, and made Twilight dread what would happen next. “As I am sure you've noticed by now, I have a platform made up of clouds with steps behind me. Today, you are going to jump off the platform, and then gently glide down.” As Rainbow Dash finished, she flew up to the platform and gently glided down just like she had done earlier when Scootaloo had shown up. “So, egghead, do you think you could manage that without landing on your back again?” Rainbow teased with a smirk. “I'm not so sure... That platform seems kind of tall.” Twilight said as she stared up at the platform, unsure. “It’s not that bad; you flew higher when you decided to take off around the castle.” “Yeah, but that was different!" Twilight replied indignantly, "Now I know what it's like to lose my balance and fall back to the ground.” Twilight grimaced at the thought. “You’ll be fine. Now get up there and get started!” Rainbow Dash ordered, beginning to get frustrated at Twilight's hesitance. “Fine.” Twilight gave in, hopping up the stairs and landing on the platform. When Twilight finally made it, she realized just how tall the platform actually was, which inevitably caused her to freeze up. “Come on, you egghead, we don’t have all day!” Rainbow Dash shouted impatiently, making sure Twilight could hear her. Finally, the hesitant pony decided to just get it over with. Slowly, she inched herself to the edge. As she got closer she unfurled her wings, took one last look down, and with her eyes squeezed shut, she jumped from the platform. Twilight was able to make it down a couple of feet perfectly fine before she lost her balance. Suddenly, the world came up to meet her and a loud thud resounded. Twilight mulled over her shame at failing for a split second before casting it aside. She got up and dusted herself off, looking at Rainbow Dash for some advice. "You were doing great for a while before you lost your balance. It seems like I've been going about this wrong the whole time! What you need is to work on your balance issues, not your flying. But there's a catch: since I didn’t see your problem sooner, I didn’t bring anything that could help. So, we're gonna have to take a quick break while I get the supplies. Is that okay with you, Twi?” “Sure, I'm completely fine with that.” Twilight said, letting slip a sigh of relief. “Scootaloo, would you mind keeping Twilight company while I go and get the supplies?” “That’s fine.” Scootaloo replied cheerily, confident in Rainbow's speed. She was sure her idol would be back in ten seconds flat. “Awesome. I’ll be right back,” Rainbow Dash smirked before taking off to where her sky castle was currently located, a rainbow trail billowing out behind her. “So, Scootaloo, you never told me what the rest of the crusaders were up to.” Twilight prompted inquisitively, relating to their conversation the previous day. “Oh! Sorry, I was so caught up in trying to find Rainbow Dash that I forgot to tell you. Apple Bloom is visiting Babs in Manehattan and Sweetie Belle went on vacation with her parents for the week, so it's just me this week.” she finished with less cheer than usual. “Oh, sorry to hear that,” Twilight rushed, feeling a surge of guilt at the prospect of being left out from her friends for an entire week. “It's fine now, since I get to spend time with the Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo's posture straightened and her perky grin returned. “That’s good!” Twilight smiled in return, "But that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. What do your parents think of you spending all your time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Rainbow Dash?” “Well… um… Oh, look! There’s Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed hurriedly, avoiding the question completely. She addressed the rainbow mare with a sort of nervous excitement, “Hey, Rainbow Dash! That was fast.” “Well, they do call me the fastest Pegasus in Equestria for a reason!” Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest in a boastful manner. “Why do you have rope?” Twilight spoke up suddenly, her eyes glued on the item wrapped loosely around Rainbow's neck. It didn't give her a good feeling. “We're going to be using this rope to help you with your balancing problem, of course.” Rainbow Dash retorted without missing a beat. “It's basically gonna be a tight wire. I'm going to set up the rope between two trees and hopefully through practice you'll be able to walk across it with no problem. At that point I believe that you will be ready to try flying again, and this time you should be able to actually stay up and not crash into the ground.” Rainbow continued before Twilight could say anything, “Scootaloo, would you mind helping me set this up?” “No problem, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo's wings fluttered as a wide smile settled on her features. “Alright, just run to that tree and tie up the rope tightly and I'll do the same over here.” “Got it.” With that, they both set to work. Within minutes they were done and the rope was tied between the two trees. Twilight just watched, fear dancing within her eyes. Testing out the rope to make sure that it was sound, Rainbow Dash jumped up onto it and started to walk across. The Pegasus was even doing some tricks on it, though it was clear she wasn't trying to put Twilight down. “Alright, Twilight! It’s not that hard; all you have to do is keep your center of balance at all times and you'll be fine.” The rainbow-maned mare bounced off the rope with surprising strength, but the rope held fast. The ground groaned beneath Dash's hooves when she dashed down, testament to the force she'd put into the jump. Obviously, the rope was tied very tightly. “Uh…” “Just get up there and do your best! The worst that could happen would be you falling off, and it's only like a foot down so it won’t hurt too much.” Rainbow Dash pushed her friend in the direction of the rope. “Easy for you to say..." she muttered under her breath. Twilight made her way over to the rope. From a distance, the rope had seemed to be thick from all the support it'd been giving Rainbow, but as she got closer she noticed how thin the rope really was. Immediately she thought that there was no way that a rope that thin could hold her, but remembered that Rainbow Dash had just strained the rope in every way she could think of, so she decided it couldn't be too bad. Using her front hoof and a nearby branch for support, the Alicorn climbed up onto the rope. “Alright, just let go of the branch and try to make your way across now.” The unicorn hesitated, but followed through. As she let go of the branch and took a first, unsteady step, the rope immediately caved on her and she fell to the ground unceremoniously. “Well, that could have gone better...” Rainbow Dash commented seriously, no longer finding humor after seeing Twilight fall so many times before. “I guess the only thing to do now is to keep trying and hopefully all this practice will do something for you.” “Aright.” Twilight said, becoming tired and sore at the thought of practicing on the tight rope for the rest of the day. She didn't even see how Rainbow had balanced so perfectly on it moments before, where the rope had not leaned in the slightest, while Twilight was swinging in it like a jump rope. After two hours of practice, Twilight had fallen multiple times and really wasn’t improving past her best record of two steps. And even then Rainbow Dash had done her best to make sure the rope wasn't wily underneath her. "You've gotta use your wings to balance yourself more! Try to not to put too much weight on the rope. One step at a time--no, don't rush!" were all criticisms Dash had dished out, though all Twilight really wanted was a good walkthrough--literally. Nothing seemed to be working. “Dash, I think I'm going to call it a day. I'm not making any improvements yet and maybe it's just because I'm so tired, but I really do need to get some rest. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow.” Twilight said, hoping that Rainbow Dash would just let her go without trying to stop her. “I understand." Rainbow said simply, taking Twilight by surprise, "Take the rest of the day off and try to get some rest, but tomorrow you better be ready to get back on that rope and walk across!” “Thank you! I promise I won’t be late tomorrow, no matter what.” With that, Twilight was off for home, at a slower pace than usual, but still heading there. “Scootaloo, would you like to give the tight rope a try?” Rainbow Dash asked after the Alicorn had left. “Yeah!” Scootaloo said excitedly. “Hop up there and give it a try!” Scootaloo jumped up onto the rope and as soon as she had found her center of balance began to walk across the rope like it was nothing. As soon as Scootaloo had made it to the other side, Rainbow Dash grinned good-naturedly, “Good job, kiddo! I think you may have done the walking part better than me.” Scootaloo bounced off the rope and bashfully replied, “Thanks, Rainbow Dash, but nopony could be better than you!” “That may be true, but if it were anypony it would be you.” Rainbow Dash nuzzled Scootaloo for a second before pulling away. “Hey, would you want to go flying again?” “Yeah, of course I would!” Scootaloo beamed as she tripped over her hooves and clambered up onto Rainbow Dash's back. The older Pegasus chuckled at the filly's behavior. "Hold on tight.” Upon saying that, Dash took off into the sky, carrying Scootaloo on her back. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Soon, Twilight found herself at the entrance of the library, sore from today’s lessons. As she opened the door, she was greeted by a distracted Spike sitting in the kitchen eating gems. He didn't even look up at the sound of the bell, signaling a pony's entrance. “Welcome to the library, if you need anything just let me know and I’ll try to help.” he said in a monotonous tone. “Spike, it's me,” Twilight replied with an edge in her voice. He wasn't supposed to be eating gems without her permission, much less during business hours. “Oh! Sorry, Twilight! I didn’t even realize it was you! I swear I would've checked who it was but these gems are amazing,” he jumped down from the seat and walked over to the pony in a nervous gait. “It’s fine, but where did you get those gems?” “Rarity stopped over and gave them to me for helping her yesterday.” “That’s good… Spike, I'd like to apologize about this morning. It's not your fault I woke up late. I should have had a back-up just in case. I know you're still a baby dragon, so I can’t blame you for forgetting.” “No, Twilight!" The dragon shook his head furiously, "I am sorry! It was my fault--you gave me the responsibility to wake you up and I forgot. It won’t ever happen again.” He hung his head before being hugged by Twilight, in which both forgave the other for their morning dispute. “So, Spike, did you receive any letters from Princess Celestia today?” Twilight questioned finally, breaking the embrace. “Nope; I haven’t received a thing. Also, why is it that I couldn’t read what was inside the letter I sent this morning when you were okay with telling Owlowiscious? Do you trust him more than you trust me?” Hurt and betrayal laced his voice, coating it with sadness. The sound made Twilight's heart lurch. “No, Spike! It's just that I don’t want anypony to know about this right now, other than Princess Celestia. I never actually told Owlowiscious what was in the letter, just to not let you open it because I know how curious you can get sometimes.” Twilight said with a slight smile, hiding the fact that she'd told a small white lie. “Alright... I guess that's fair.” Spike laughed at some of the times his curiosity has gotten the better of him. “Anyway, you came in just in time. I was just about to prepare dinner! What would you like?” “This is why you're my number one assistant, Spike.” Twilight smiled at the thought of finally eating something. ”You know what, Spike? Would you mind making some more hay fries and grilled dandelion sandwiches? Ever since you woke me up to the smell of it this morning, I've been craving them.” “Sure thing, Twilight.” The two shared a chuckle. With that, Spike began to make dinner while Twilight waited patiently for the food to be finished at the table.