//------------------------------// // 12. Hope // Story: Cheated Dreams // by Kodeake //------------------------------// Cheated Dreams Chapter 12 Hope Rainbow Dash awoke once again to the sound of a quill scratching against paper. Though this time, when she opened her eyes, she was not met with a dark and dreary bedroom, but rather a bright and sunny one as light streamed through an open window. She noted the delectable smell of pancakes and hay-bacon floating in the air as well. “Twi?” She called groggily, sitting up from bed and scanning the room, though she already knew exactly where the unicorn was. Sure enough, just as her head turned to the left, she found Twilight, sitting at her desk with a quill in her magic. Rainbow noted the almost depleted candle sitting next to her with a small frown. “Morning Rainbow,” Twilight greeted distractedly. Her voice was gruff, as though she hadn't had a glass of water in weeks. Rainbow was about to push herself out of bed when she remembered what had happened the last time she'd tried it. Deciding against risking that particular displeasure, she instead asked her questions from the bed, the first one to leave her lips being “How much sleep did you get?” The sound of scratching stopped as Twilight sighed heavily. She was already feeling guilty about lying once; she couldn't bring herself to do so again. “I didn't,” she admitted quietly, quickly resuming her notes and theories as she waited to be yelled at for neglecting herself. Rainbow shook her head in obvious disappointment. “What did I tell you? You're not to be losing any sleep over this; you've already done more than I ever expected you to.” Twilight dropped the quill from her magic, turning in her chair and facing the mare in her bed. “And what if I wasn't doing this? You'd still be out of the Wonderbolts. Your dream would still be crushed. I can't just sit here and do nothing when I know what you've lost because of this. I told you I'd fix this, and I intend to keep that particular promise,” Twilight huffed, turning back to her work. She hadn't even picked up the quill when Rainbow spoke up. “That doesn't mean you have to lose sleep over it,” she argued, “You don't have to put this over your own health!” Twilight remained silent for a few moments, seemingly contemplating something. Eventually, she appeared to have come to a conclusion, and fixed Rainbow Dash with a determined stare. “No, but I have to put you above my health,” she stated firmly. Rainbow's mind worked overtime in the silence that followed the unicorn's statement as she struggled to understand it. She didn't have much time to contemplate the true meaning of the words, however, as the bedroom door was thrown open. A large platter of food walked in, stalked nearly twice as high as the dragon carrying it with pancakes, berries, hay-bacon, and other assorted morning treats. Twilight perked up considerably at the pot of coffee resting on one of the trays. She quickly lit her magic, lifting the heavy burden from her assistant's arms, who nodded in thanks as the food was distributed across the bed Rainbow was residing in. “Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said, pouring herself a large, steaming cup of coffee and gingerly taking a few sips. “No problem, but next time, do you think you could come downstairs for it?” Spike replied, rubbing the pain out of his forearms. “Sorry, but I didn't know if Rainbow would be ready to get up yet. While most of the time the serious symptoms of a concussion are gone in the first 24 hours, it's possible to take weeks or even months depending,” she apologized, watching as Rainbow stared in amazement at the buffet before her. Spike nodded in understanding before scampering back down the stairs to the dishes breakfast had made. “Go ahead and eat,” Twilight prompted. The cyan pegasus was very nearly drooling at the combination of the smells and sights, but managed to tear her eyes away to look at the unicorn quizzically. “Aren't you having any?” Twilight shrugged, “I might have a bit, but I asked Spike to cook that for you.” Rainbow sighed. As much as she wanted to agree and dig in to the delicious looking food, Twilight had already gone a night without sleep because of her. She was not making the unicorn go without breakfast. “I'll probably eat most of it, so you go and grab what you want now.” “It's fine, Rainbow, I-” “No, Twilight,” Rainbow interrupted firmly, “It's not alright. You've lost a night of sleep over me already; I can't sit here and eat knowing you're not. So either make yourself a plate or I'll do it for you.” Twilight huffed at the statement, but eventually relented and gathered a few items onto a plate of her own. She piled on only a single pancake, a few small pieces of bacon, and a couple berries. Rainbow watched as the sparsely decorated plate was levitated back to the small table Twilight was working at. She turned and glared at the unicorn who she was convinced was on the verge of starving herself. “Bring that plate back here,” she ordered. Twilight looked up, surprised, before complying. “Why? Is it too much?” Rainbow rolled her eyes as the near-empty plate was placed in front of her. Instead of taking things off like Twilight had thought she would, she started piling more of the food onto it, ignoring Twilight's protesting. Once the plate was filled to the brim with food she leaned back, admiring her handiwork. “Now you can eat,” Rainbow said, nodding approvingly as almost half the food was levitated away on Twilight's plate. “Are you sure? It's a lot of food and it was all meant for you...” Twilight trailed off as she saw the deadpan stare Rainbow was giving her. “Either eat that or I'll cram it down your throat myself,” she threatened, stabbing one her her own pancakes with her fork and shoving the entire thing in her mouth, her cheeks bulging comically as they adjusted to the behemoth disk of dough. Her stern glare never once left the unicorn beside her. “Fine,” Twilight relented finally, albeit hesitantly, as she too started eating the food that was, as they were quickly finding out, delectable. “Oh man,” Rainbow groaned, not even bothering to swallow the piece of unidentifiable food in her mouth. “Remind me to thank Spike for this. Maybe get the guy a ruby or something.” Twilight chuckled at the clear lack of manners, a display which would make Rarity run for the hills and might even make Applejack flinch. She chewed slowly, swallowing politely before responding, “Yeah. I should really do more for him; he works so hard...” The room faded to silence after that, both ponies happy to simply eat in the company of each other. Eventually, though, when almost all the food was gone from Rainbow's plate and her stomach couldn't take any more if she tried, the peaceful silence devolved into that of an awkward pause as the clinking and clanging of forks against plates stopped. Finally, when Rainbow had had enough and the silence had grown too loud, she asked, “So... how's the aura thing going?” She regretted it instantly as Twilight groaned. Loudly. “Nowhere,” she sighed, “I don't even know where to begin. Locator spells are easy enough, but the object being located needs to have been specially enchanted before hand to react with the spell. For a scribing spell I need an object of great personal value to the pony we're looking for. All I have is a tiny amount of their aura... I'm at a loss.” Rainbow's lips twisted to a frown at the news, but she quickly replaced it with a proud, confident smile. “Hey, don't worry about it; I'm sure you'll find a way to find this unicorn. It's not like there's a deadline or anything; take as long as you need. That means no studying all night,” she added with a serious frown. Twilight looked at her for a second, before letting out a quiet giggle. “That really bugs you, huh?” She asked, giggling again as Rainbow nodded sternly. “Alright fine; I promise I won't stay up all night studying again. Happy?” Rainbow rolled her eyes at the sarcastic tone, but nodded anyway. “Yes, actually. I expect you to keep that promise, too. I don't need you losing any more sleep over this.” “Fine,” Twilight sighed over-dramatically, though she was smiling. Rainbow too cracked a light chuckle at Twilight's tone. “Anyway,” Rainbow started, “Can I get out of bed now?” Twilight rolled her eyes as she saw Rainbow's wings fidget impatiently under the blanket. She lit her horn, levitating the used dishes from the bed and piling them neatly on her desk. “Yes, just give me a second,” she said, standing from her chair and walking over to the edge of the bed. Her horn once again lit with a magical glow as she placed it gently against the pegasus's forehead. “Uh... Twi?” Rainbow asked curiously as the unicorn's horn made contact with her fur. A warm, tingling sensation spread out from the point of contact across her head, wrapping around to the back of her skull. “Shh,” Twilight shushed, closing her eyes in concentration, “This will only take a second.” Rainbow complied, keeping her mouth shut as Twilight continued doing... whatever it was she was doing. True to her word, however, a flash of light filled the room a few seconds later, and when the light dimmed, she was sitting back, smiling happily. Rainbow looked at her, rubbing the odd feeling out of her head. “What was that?” “Just making sure you healed properly. There doesn't appear to be any permanent damage and it seems like it's healed completely. Just keep an eye on yourself if you get any really bad headaches that won't go away or if you start having problems remembering things. If that does happen you'll want to see an actual doctor,” Twilight explained, backing away from the bed and gathering the small stack of dirty plates. “You seem to play doctor just fine,” Rainbow noted under her breath, beginning to crawl out of bed, admittedly a bit more cautiously than she usually would have after what had happened last time. “What was that?” Twilight asked as she opened the door, the plates floating next to her, held aloft in her gentle magic. “Nothing,” Rainbow said quickly, fighting back a mild blush, “Just talking to myself. I'll probably be pretty busy today after that hailstorm.” Twilight nodded, accepting Rainbow's excuse as she made her way out into the hall and down the stairs to the main room. “Speaking of which; why was it hailing? I thought it was just supposed to be a normal shower last night?” Rainbow chuckled nervously, rubbing her neck sheepishly. “Uh... I may have taken my anger out on a few too many clouds yesterday.” Twilight stopped and turned to look at her friend questioningly. “What?” “Well... after I'd gone to see the girls I was pretty angry, so I smashed up a couple clouds to blow off some steam. Because of that more sun got through, increasing the ground temperature, which is why it was hail instead of rain,” Rainbow admitted with a guilty smile. Twilight rolled her eyes, continuing into the kitchen where Spike was busy eating what looked like a cross between a boulder and a salad. “Of course you did.” “Look, the point is I gotta go clean it up and get chewed out by my boss, so I'll see you later,” Rainbow called, walking to the front door instead of following Twilight through to the kitchen. “And remember; no staying up all night studying. You'll figure it out eventually. Oh, and if you need any help with it, you know where to find me!” “Napping, right?” Twilight called back knowingly, listening to a nervous chuckle come from her front room. “Good bye, Rainbow,” she added after a couple seconds of silence. “Bye Twi!” With the final farewell out of the way Rainbow stepped out the door, closing it behind her before taking off into the sky. She did a single loop around the library before angling herself towards Town Hall, where a very angry District Weather Manager was sure to be waiting. Twilight listened to the shutting of the door, smiling happily as she started on the dishes she and Rainbow had used that morning. “A 'thank you for breakfast' would have been nice,” she heard Spike grumble out behind her, munching on his geode salad. She couldn't help but giggle. “I'm sure she's very grateful, Spike.” The dragon rolled his eyes as he swallowed his mouthful. “Yeah yeah, I know.” Twilight paused her dish-washing to turn to her assistant. “How about this, once I'm done with these dishes we go out hunting for a couple nice big emeralds for you? I'm pretty sure I won't be getting any visitors today. At least not any that will want to be taking out books.” Spike immediately perked up at the offer of one of his favourite gems, swallowing the rest of his salad in a single gulp before rushing up to her. “Hurry up and wash the dishes, Twilight! There a gems out there that need to be eaten!” The unicorn couldn't help but laugh at his typical antics as she resumed her washing. “In a minute, Spike. They're not going anywhere.” “But what if they are? What if they get stolen by the Gem Thieves? They'll never have a proper home in my stomach then! Here; I'll dry, you wash,” he said, grabbing a towel and drying the dishes as Twilight cleaned them, putting them away just as quickly. Twilight looked out her kitchen window. The ground was littered with small white specs, the once large stones now melting to the size of pebbles. The trees around town had taken a beating from the hail, but with such a large population of earthponies they should have no problem restoring them to full health. The sky was a bright, clear blue, the clouds having been withered away by the onslaught of hail the previous night, leaving a crystal clear view of the shining sky and burning sun. She had a brief thought about spending the day researching the aura, but pushed it out of her mind with what Rainbow had said; there was no deadline. She could spend one day with her dragon out enjoying the beautiful day. A smile spread across her muzzle as she observed a rainbow streak flying away from Town Hall and over to one of the many farm on the outskirts of town, no doubt to get them the water they needed in the form of light, localized showers. It was going to be okay. She'd find the unicorn who placed the enchantment, prove Rainbow's innocence to the Wonderbolts and get her back in. It was all going to turn out just fine.