//------------------------------// // Showtime // Story: Two Weeks // by Starlitomega //------------------------------// Twilight stared at the frantic pony who now bared teeth and a sharp sword at her. She took aim with her horn to capture Pinkie with a spell, but the pink pony simply dodged to the side. Twilight fired several more spells, but each one failed to connect with the agitated pony. “I can't catch her with magic!” The unicorn’s eyes frantically scanned the room until they fell upon the chairs. I can't seriously hurt her, but I can at least knock her unconscious. Using her magic, she lifted one of the chairs from the table and flung it towards Pinkie. Sword in mouth, Pinkie sliced through it effortlessly. Kindling is the only way to describe what clattered to the floor. Twilight's eyes widened, but she wasn't finished yet. She grabbed two more chairs and flung them after the pink pony. With another deft swing, both pieces of furniture were eviscerated. “Ugh, fine!” Twilight focused her magic on the remaining chairs and positioned them around the pink pony in a circle. They hovered for a moment in the air. All at once they flew towards Pinkie. A flash of pink was the only thing she saw before a cloud of sawdust sprang up. Before long, the dust settled, and when Twilight opened her eyes she could scarcely believe what she saw. Pinkie stood atop the pile of broken and splintered chairs like a victorious general. She held the sword in her hooves, half of it buried in the wooden mess beneath her. “Are you done?” Pinkie asked mockingly. Twilight looked around the room again, desperate for anything she could use. Suddenly, an idea hit her. “Yes I am, since you seem intent on using a sword. I’ll just teleport up there and tell her everything before you get there instead.” “B-but I thought you can't teleport someplace you haven't been before!” Pinkie protested. Twilight charged her horn. “Nope, unicorns can teleport anywhere,” Twilight bluffed. “I’ll leave you down here, unless...” “Unless what...” “You put down the sword and we settle this hoof to hoof.” Pinkie seemed to consider this for a moment. “But you have magic! You'll just cheat!” “No I won’t,” Twilight insisted. She walked over to the dining table and pulled the tablecloth off, sending the dishes and cups scattering all over the floor. Twilight jumped on the table and assumed an aggressive stance. “Come on, Pinkie. You're not afraid you’ll lose to a unicorn, are you?” Pinkie's eyes grew large and she tossed the sword to the side. The pink pony jumped onto the table and stood opposite of Twilight. “I’m not afraid! I’ll show you what I can do!” In a flash, Pinkie pounced, and their hooves collided in the air. Both ponies struggled against one another, but Twilight could easily feel herself weakening. Pinkie shoved forcefully, throwing Twilight down the table on her back. “Hah! You just can’t cut it, Twilight!” The unicorn charged her horn. “Hey! You said no magic!” Pinkie protested. A bolt of energy fired from Twilight’s horn towards the ceiling. Pinkie stood on the table with a smug grin. “Hah! You missed!” Pinkie's tail jittered unnaturally. "Twitcha twitch?" A soft metal clink echoed throughout the hall. Pinkie had just enough time to look up before the chandelier came crashing down around her. She blinked for a moment before realizing that the downward tip design of the chandelier acted as a cage, trapping her inside. “Hey! You cheater, lemme out!” Twilight walked over to the pink pony and sighed as her head lowered in shame. “I’m sorry, Pinkie. I know it isn’t right of me to just expect Rainbow Dash to take me back like nothing happened, but the truth is... I do love her. I have to tell her, and I understand if you hate me for that, but I have to tell her.” Twilight looked up and saw what looked like a smile on Pinkie’s face for the briefest moments before it changed back into a scowl. Suddenly, the loudspeaker on the wall crackled to life. “Fillies and gentlecolts! Tonight we have a very special performer. A pony hailing from the small town of Ponyville. Don't let her humble home deceive you though.  After a dangerous accident, she saved three of the famous Wonderbolts from a deadly plunge and was crowned best young flier of Equestria. She is the only pony in history capable of performing a sonic rainboom shattering the visible light spectrum in a spectacular fashion. Her incredible bravery doesn't stop there though. She has helped save Equestria with her fellow Elements of Harmony three times now, never backing down in the face of danger. It’s my great pleasure to introduce to you, Miss Rainbow Dash!” The crowd erupted into raucous applause. “Oh no! The show’s starting!” Pinkie grinned smugly from her makeshift cage. “Hah! Now you missed your chance, and when I escape this thing, you’re gonna be sorry!” Twilight hopped off the table and headed for the staircase labeled ‘Upstairs Stage Entry.’ “Hey Twilight! Where ya going?” Spike called out. “I’m going after Rainbow! Go to the main hall! I’ll meet you after the show!” She called back. Twilight ran up the stairs until they came to an end. The floor where they stopped was clearly a spot where performers spent their final moments preparing for their entrances. Looking around, Twilight spotted a curtain. She galloped toward it, hastily pushing it aside. The bright lights of the stadium hit her, nearly blinding the unicorn. Her heart leapt to the back of her throat, though, when she realized she was on a diving board, positioned what must have been more than three hundred feet from the ground. Her legs locked up, and she skidded to a halt mere inches from the very end. Twilight sighed in relief. She didn’t think somepony would be silly enough to put a stage entrance hanging this high off the ground without a single sign to warn of the danger. The crowd cheered in ebbs and flows while Rainbow Dash whipped out loops and barrel rolls above the spectators. Looking into the audience she saw her friends in the stands, and off to the side in a nearby V.I.P. box, Lady Silver Bell, who seemed to wave and smile up at her. Twilight quickly realized that talking to Rainbow Dash would be impossible now that she had begun her performance. She turned and walked back toward the curtain until a crazy thought entered her mind. She often had them, she just usually chose not to follow through. This time, though, she thought it might be a good idea. In fact, the more she considered it, the more perfect it seemed. That, or she really needed to eat. She sometimes thought bad ideas sounded good when she was hungry. Regardless, she turned back and stared off the edge of the diving board. Nope, I can officially confirm this is a bad idea. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight's voice cut through the air, gathering attention of the crowd. Murmurs of worry and confusion spread and the pegasus of the hour turned and locked eyes with Twilight. Those fiery fuchsia eyes... Eyes she could trust everything with. Twilight ran the last few inches and hopped off the diving board, outstretching her arms and curling into a ball. Gasps and shrieks went through the crowd as she cut through the air. Well, this will either go perfectly, or really, really badly. The unicorn closed her eyes as her world began to spin. Every moment she spent in the air felt like an eternity. She had no true sense of time; all she could do was tumble and hope for the best. Two strong legs wrapped around her own, yanking Twilight out of her spin. A mighty cheer erupted through the crowd. “Twilight! What do you think you're doing? I could've dropped you!” Rainbow hissed at her. “I have something I need to tell you, Rainbow!” Twilight said as the pegasus did a victory lap around the stadium, celebrating her timely catch. “And it couldn’t have waited ‘till after the show? Jeez, Twilight! If I hadn't caught you or let go-” “I would've ended up like Applejack?” Twilight finished. “Ho-how do you know about that?” Rainbow demanded. “I had a little help...” Rainbow carried Twilight around the stadium one more time to show off her speed and agility to the crowd. “I believe in you, Rainbow. I know you’ll be there to catch me even if I hit the ground. All of this is my fault. I kept telling myself I had too much I needed to do, that I couldn’t have somepony in my life, but-” “Listen, Twilight, do you really wanna be with me or not?” The unicorn thought for a moment. What would it mean if she said yes? The myriad ways her life would change based on the next words out of her mouth. “Yes… I do.” “Well then, you better hang on!” Rainbow turned, sharply cutting toward the middle of the arena. Twilight's stomach churned as the pegasus aimed her sleek and muscular body towards a set of increasingly smaller stunt rings. “Okay, here we go!” "Wait, wha-AAAAAH!" Rainbow tossed Twilight up in the air over the rings while she sped through them. Just as she cleared the last ring, Rainbow grabbed Twilight by her outstretched hooves. The crowd erupted into wild cheers and applause. “Rainbow, are you crazy?” Twilight yelled. “You said you trust me, right?” the pegasus asked. “Well yes, but-” “Then trust me.” Twilight hung silently in Rainbow’s grip while she sped through the arena. It was easy enough to say she trusted the pegasus, but to actually do it... “Okay Rainbow, I trust you.” Rainbow grinned. “Then hold on to your hooves!” The world spun again as Rainbow tossed her, sending her spinning into the air. Rainbow pulled a quick double loop and caught Twilight, eliciting more cheers from the ponies below. Twilight tried not to think about the spinning and the tumbling and the falling for the remainder of the act. Instead, she focused on Rainbow’s strong grip, most importantly, how right it felt to be there. Every time she was tossed into the air she felt her stomach lurch. After each throw however, she knew Rainbow would catch her. Twilight stumbled into the spacious backstage room. Despite Rainbow Dash putting her down early on in the performance, the unicorn’s inner ear still hadn’t quite recovered from the dizzying spins. “Ugh, I think I’ve had enough flying for one lifetime.” Rainbow poked her playfully. “Hah! You’re the one who wanted to know how it felt. Well, now ya know.” “Maybe I did, but stunt flying wasn’t going to be first on my list,” Twilight said, sitting down on a couch in the room. The door burst open, and three ponies and a baby dragon galloped in, chattering excitedly. “Oh, wow, you two were so amazing up there.” Fluttershy beamed. “Holy smokes, Rainbow. Ah’d say by the way them ponies in the stands were cheering, you sure gave ‘em their money's worth.” “Absolutely marvelous!” Rarity added. “Thanks, guys,” the pegasus said with a blush. The door opened again. This time, a pony with pink fuzzy hair bounced in with a smile on her face. “Hey girls! It’s so good to see you after so long! We should really catch up with a party when we get back to Ponyville,” Pinkie said as she opened the mini fridge and buried her nose in it. Twilight stood stock-still, wondering if she should creep out of the room. Spike waved at her frantically. “Oh, they have those grapefruit sodas like in Canterlot. Anypony want one?” she asked, pulling her nose out of the fridge. Pinkie’s eyes locked with Twilight’s and her face broke into a huge grin. “Oh hey, Twilight! You were awesome up there. It’s like you and Rainbow knew exactly what to do before you did it,” she said, reaching into the fridge and pulling out the soda. The quiet of the room piqued Pinkie’s curiosity, however. “Uhh, why are you all looking at me like that?” Suddenly, Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Omigosh, Rainbow? You haven’t told them yet?” Rainbow scratched the back of her neck nervously. “I was just about to explain...” “Explain? Explain what?” Twilight asked. “Uhhh, well..."