//------------------------------// // 15. Journey // Story: Cheated Dreams // by Kodeake //------------------------------// Cheated Dreams Chapter 15 Journey “This is it?” Rainbow asked, keeping her excitement in check as she circled around the unicorn sitting in the middle of the basement. Twilight sat at the metal-topped lab bench in the center of the room, maps strewn about the top of the surface. The largest of them – the map of the entirety of Equestria – was sat in the middle, smoothed out and unobstructed by anything resting on top of it. Twilight double checked the notes sitting off to the side, nodding her head after a couple seconds. “Should be. If I'm right all I need to do is start off with the aura scanning spell, then transition to the scrying spell, which should interpret the aura reading the same way it interprets DNA.” Rainbow simply nodded. She'd never even tried to understand the mechanics of Twilight's spells, and Twilight herself had given up long ago on trying to explain it. “Then let's do this.” “Alright,” Twilight took a deep breath, magically pushing everything a bit further away from the center map and bringing forward the glass sphere of reddish-brown aura. “Let's give it a shot.” With a final breath Twilight shut her eyes and lit her horn, first enveloping the sphere in a bright purple glow. The light intensified until it was near impossible to look at, before suddenly it popped, a bright flash filling the room before dimming down to nothing. When Rainbow could see again, Twilight had angled her horn down, pointing it towards the previously enchanted map before her, the long purple spire still glowing brightly. For a few seconds, nothing happened, causing Rainbow's hopeful smile to wither on her face. Until, suddenly, a small, insignificant spark of magic dripped like water from a leaky tap off Twilight's horn. It floated down slowly, rocking back and forth like a leaf in autumn as it moved over the map, closer in closer to its destination. Rainbow watched with baited breath. Twilight still had her eyes shut tight in concentration. Suddenly, still a few inches from the paper, the spark shot down, hitting the map and making a small point of light appear where it had landed. Small tendrils of white emanated out from the point, slowly spreading and consuming the map in a bright light, making the black markings almost seem to glow just as bright as the paper itself. When the entirety of the map was consumed by the white light, it slowly started dimming, fading back to the original colour of the page. All except one point of light, which continued to stay bright even as the rest of the map lost its glow completely. The point of light pulsed steadily, like a heartbeat, sending out small, rapidly-fading waves of light in a perfect circle. Rainbow looked at it curiously for a second, not sure what it meant, when Twilight snapped her head up, examining the map quickly before allowing a grin to spread across her face. “It worked!” Twilight cried, spinning around and grinning at Rainbow. “We found them, Rainbow! It worked!” She repeated, grabbing Rainbow's shoulders and shaking lightly. “So... that's where they are?” Rainbow asked uncertainly, pointing to the pulsing point of light. “Yep!” Twilight chirped happily, turning back to the map. “Looks like they're in Canterlot. Tomorrow we'll catch a train and-” “Tomorrow?” Rainbow asked absurdly. “It's only one in the afternoon! We can still get to Canterlot today!” “Rainbow, the noon train already left, and the next one isn't until 8PM. And even if we could catch a train, there's no way we'd be able to get a train coming back,” Twilight explained, rolling up her Equestria map. “It's best we take the rest of today to prepare and come up with a plan, then tomorrow we'll actually know what we're doing instead of blindly charging in.” “Who cares if we have a plan?” Rainbow protested loudly. “We are this close to finding the pony who did this, Twi; you can't seriously tell me you want to wait!” Twilight sighed, resting her hooves on the table as the unnecessary maps found homes in a filing cabinet against the wall. “I don't want to wait, Rainbow, believe me; the sooner we can clear your name the better, but I just don't see how we can get there today, or even what we'll do once we're there.” Rainbow Dash grunted in frustration, flitting anxiously around the room. “We can't just sit here and do nothing until tomorrow's train! We found the unicorn, Twilight! We have to go now!” “We can't!” Twilight snapped, “I know how much you want to, but there aren't any more trains, and you still haven't given me a viable plan.” “I'll fly us, you think of the plan on the way!” Rainbow offered suddenly, brightening up at the – in her mind – brilliant idea. “You'll fly both of us all the way to Canterlot?” Twilight asked with a skeptically raised eyebrow, looking back over her shoulder at the excited pegasus. “Why not? I can make the trip in 20 minutes on my own. With another pony it'll be just under and hour. We can go there, and knowing you that will be plenty of time for you to think up your plan. What we do after confronting this pony is your end of the deal,” Rainbow explained happily, already starting towards the stairs. “Well we still-” Twilight started, but was stopped by a loud, impatient sigh from the stairs, more specifically from the cyan pegasus half way up them. Her eyes fixed on Rainbow's necklace, hanging loosely around her neck, glinting in the gentle candle light filling the basement. Twilight relented with a groan of her own. “Fine, just give me a second to pack. We still need a few things.” “Hurry up!” Rainbow whined anxiously, shifting from hoof to hoof as she watched Twilight buzz around her basement, gathering seemingly random objects and throwing them in her saddlebags. After a few hours – or minutes; Rainbow was in no mood to keep track – Twilight nodded her head in approval, and secured the bags around her barrel. “You ready?” Twilight gave one last glance around the room before looking back to the anxious pegasus. “I'm ready,” she confirmed. In a flash Rainbow was up the stairs and out of the basement. Twilight sighed, magically snuffing the various candles and lanterns around the subterranean room and teleporting to the front of her house with a loud pop. With a flash of light she reappeared on the path leading up the the library, and right next to an impatiently-waiting Rainbow Dash, who jumped into the air, startled by the sudden appearance of her friend. Twilight stifled a giggle as Rainbow set herself back on the ground, trying to hide her embarrassed blush. “So, how are we-” “Get on,” Rainbow interrupted, motioning to her back with a hoof and crouching down to the ground. “O-on your back?” Twilight stammered, feeling the blood rush to her own cheeks and Rainbow flared her wings. “Yep,” she affirmed, “easiest way to carry a passenger long distance, just watch the wings.” For a reason Twilight wasn't completely sure of, her cheeks felt hotter than the surface of the sun. If her logical mind hadn't reminded her otherwise, she would've sworn she'd suddenly caught on fire as she awkwardly paced closer to the crouching pegasus. “O-ok...” she said uncertainly as Rainbow folded her wings, allowing Twilight to climb on a bit easier. “Hurry up, egghead! We have a unicorn to find!” Rainbow groaned impatiently, shifting around to emphasize her anxious energy. Twilight swallowed down a lump in her throat, confused and conflicted, as she place a shaky off on Rainbow's shoulder for leverage. She was pretty sure her face was redder than a perfectly ripened apple. With a careful and quick movement, she pulled herself up onto Rainbow's back like one would mount a bike, spreading her weight across the pegasus's back as she attempted to align herself so she wouldn't throw Rainbow's balance off too much. If Twilight could see her face, she'd see that Rainbow had just as profound a blush as she did. “Heavier than I expected,” Rainbow muttered to herself, spreading her wings and shifting around to get used to Twilight's weight on her back. “What was that?” Twilight asked coldly. Rainbow could feel the unicorn glaring holes into the back of her head. “N-nothing. You ready?” Rainbow asked, trying to shake the blood out of her cheeks, giving a couple test flaps to ensure she had a full range of movement, unimpeded by Twilight's body or legs. She felt Twilight shift around a bit and heard her fiddle with her saddlebags, but after a few moments Twilight stilled herself. “Let's go.” Rainbow crouched down to the ground, tensing her muscles, ready to shoot herself into the sky like a spring, before suddenly remembering something and standing back up straight. “Oh... uh, take-off is a bit rough; you might wanna hang on.” “Hang on? To what? There aren't exactly any handles up here!” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You know, for a genius, you can be pretty oblivious sometimes,” she sighed, reaching up with her front legs and grabbing Twilight’s hooves, previously resting on her shoulders, and brought them down around her neck. “There ya go; one pegasus handle. Now hang on,” Rainbow repeated, once again crouching down for takeoff. She felt Twilight clue in to what she meant and her hooves tighten up around her neck, though not so tight as to be uncomfortable. “Let's go!” In an instant Rainbow shot off the ground, her well-trained muscles pushing her from the ground and into the air, where her wings took over and began flapping, generating enough lift to continue taking her and her passenger higher into the sky. Within seconds they were higher than the highest building in Ponyville, and after a couple more they were flying high among the clouds speckling the sky. Twilight felt her heart rate increase at the unexpected speed, adrenalin taking over as her hooves clamped down tighter around Rainbow's neck and shoulders. She buried her face into Rainbow's mane to protect herself from the winds - and the possibility of looking down. Though not exactly afraid of heights, she'd much rather be on the ground. When she felt the wind stop biting at her coat and Rainbow's wings flap at a slower, gentler pace, she risked glancing up. Too her surprise, she noticed that they were no longer climbing. The next thing she noticed was that Rainbow was laughing. “What?” Twilight growled, allowing her hooves to relax as she once again glared at the back of Rainbow's head. “N-nothing,” Rainbow wheezed between laughs, “It's just... I think that's the first time I've had a passenger hide on take-off.” “I'm not used to flying, alright? And you didn't have to take off so quickly!” Twilight argued loudly, her voice ringing out through the still air all around them. Rainbow stopped her laughing, glancing back over her shoulder curiously. “What about your balloon? The one you used to get to Cloudsdale?” “That's different,” Twilight muttered. “The balloon is slow, and it has a basket. It's safe in the balloon. The last thing I'd call riding on the back of a pegasus is safe.” Though she could only see less than half her face, Twilight saw Rainbow’s lips turn down into a slight frown. “You're safe up here, Twi; you're not gonna fall or anything,” she assured, sounding a little hurt that Twilight didn't feel safe. “And what's gonna stop that?” Twilight argued as she glanced to the side, seeing nothing to stop her from simply slipping off other than Rainbow's wing, which offered her little support, either physical or emotional. The thought made her once again tighten her grasp. They had gone higher than she'd thought they would, and she was regretting her decision to agree to Rainbow's idea. “Me,” Rainbow responded simply. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right. Look, this was a bad idea. Can we just go back down and catch tomorrow's train?” Rainbow ignored her, instead facing forward as she added a little more force behind her flaps, increasing her speed slightly. “I meant it, Twi; you're not gonna fall as long as I'm here. And even if you somehow managed to slip off my back, you know I'd catch you.” Twilight opened her mouth to plead her case to return to the ground, but found herself without an argument, or even the desire to argue. The way that Rainbow had said it, the sincerity in her voice, gave her pause. Twilight couldn't simply ignore that, and she knew Rainbow was telling the truth. So why was she so nervous? She'd seen enough times that Rainbow was more than capable of such feats, so why was she suddenly against the idea? Was it really a concern over safety, or was it something else? Twilight sighed, shoving her mental debate to the back of her mind to be dealt with later. She lowered her head, gently resting her chin on the back of Rainbow's neck. “Let's go then.” Rainbow didn't increase her speed, though. She still wasn’t satisfied with Twilight's answer, and it was bugging her. “I'm serious Twilight; I will catch you if you fall. But... if you don't feel safe, then we should just wait for tomorrow's train...” Rainbow trailed off guiltily, berating herself for forcing Twilight into this situation before making sure the unicorn was alright with it. She began angling her wings, banking back around to the town already far off in the distance. “W-wait,” Twilight spoke up hesitantly, “Let's... let's go to Canterlot. I trust you,” she assured. She smiled brightly at her own words, not even knowing why. Rainbow Dash smiled too, though she herself had a hunch why that statement meant so much to her. But for now, they had a unicorn to find. “Alright then. Next stop; Canterlot!” Rainbow called, pumping her wings hard and shooting off into the sky towards the mountain peaks of Canterlot. “Rainbow!” Twilight screeched as the wind once again buffeted her face, throwing her mane out behind her as it blew around wildly. Rainbow's mane was doing the exact same thing – directly into Twilight's face. “Hold on,” Rainbow called back with a laugh, feeling Twilight once again duck her head down into her billowing mane as her wings continued to carry them swiftly through the air. “I'll get you back for this,” Twilight grumbled into Rainbow's fur, too quietly for the pegasus to hear over the wind. Twilight was still smiling. Behind them Rainbow's signature rainbow trail formed, with an added streak of pink and purple stacked on top of her usual rainbow colouring. It was time to clear their names.