Dreams and Disasters

by Quillery

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next twenty-four hours went by in a blur. Twilight was silent the entire flight back to Aurora’s apartment, and immediately went to bed. Dash didn’t force any conversation. She knew Twilight was fragile, tired, and cold, and to be honest, she felt the same. Dash spent the night on the couch in the living space, but sleep evaded her for most of it.

Aurora was pleasant the next morning, cooking breakfast for the two of them. She, too did not press, which Dash was grateful for. Her glaring at her probably helped, but Aurora shrugged it off and continued unphased.

Twilight took her meal in her room. She returned a mostly full plate, which Aurora cleaned without comment. Dash didn’t try to bother Twilight, and kept her distance. If Twilight was going to talk, it was best to let her do it on her own. After what had happened, Dash was willing to give her all the time she needed.

In the meantime, Dash avoided her aunt as much as possible. Her bitterness was clearly obvious, as every time she glanced in Aurora’s direction, she simply replied, “Do not waste your anger on me, Prizma. Save it for yourself. I did nothing but help you. You will see it in time.”

Dash scoffed, grumbled and moved on. Instead, she did focused on at least one thing she could accomplish without ruining anything further. She took from Twilight’s bag the final book for exchange, and flew to the Imperial Palace in the afternoon. Her meeting was brief, explaining the situation to the guards that Twilight expressed her apologies, but would not be able to attend the exchange personally.

After the final exchange was complete, she flew back, more tired than before. Aurora tried to force bits of conversation, but Dash didn’t listen. She paced the apartment, spending most of her time staring out the balcony, losing herself to her memories, if only to have a happy moment to herself.

When Twilight finally showed herself, she expressed in the briefest way possible her intentions of getting on the boat home. Dash didn’t argue, and Aurora offered to guide them to the sea-port. Dash tried to resist, but Twilight insisted she come along.

The sea-port was a lengthy affair. They trudged through customs, no stranger to it, and waited patiently on the dock for their ship. It came with no fanfare, no excitement, only a bleating of a fog horn as the great vessel slogged into view. Unlike the airship that started their journey, this ship was a monster of steel and fumes that chugged through the murky waters of the St. Poniesburg port.

They approached the gangway, Dash following behind Twilight with her aunt right beside her. Twilight held her head low and moved at a slow, lethargic pace. It pained Dash to see her act like this, and blamed herself for being the cause of it.

Just before they climbed into the ship, Dash faced her aunt. As much as she wanted to scream at her for what she had done, Aurora was family. Her dad would have been furious if she had found out that Dash had left without saying a proper goodbye, and as scary as Aurora could be when she was angry, her dad was worse.

“Goodbye, Auntie. Thanks for the place to stay.”

Aurora laughed heartily. “You are most welcome, Prizma. I promise to visit soon when I have some time. It has been so long since I have seen your father.”

Dash shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”

Aurora wrapped her hooves around Dash and pulled her tight. “You anger is well placed, dear. One day you will see why I did it. Just be patient. The secret is out, now the rest is up to you. It’s important to speak up, and now you have. The rest should be simple.”

Dash grumbled, but managed to return the hug, although briefly. Aurora placed a quick peck on Dash’s cheek, who recoiled. “Ugh, Auntie! That’s gross.”

Aurora smiled. “It is an aunt’s place to smother her niece in affection, dear. You may be your mother’s little bluebird, but you will always be my special Prizma. Never forget that.”

Dash resisted the urge to smile, but instead let out an acceptant sigh. Twilight cleared her throat, and Dash turned to her. “It’s time to go, Rainbow Dash,” she said quietly.

Dash winced. Twilight hadn’t used her full name in such a long time, and it hurt to hear it now. “O-okay, Twilight. I’m right behind you.”

Dash cast one last glance at Aurora. She returned a nod, waved goodbye, and followed Twilight up the gangway onto the ship.

They found their room in little time. It was a small little nook with a small desk and two separate cubbies with beds. Twilight went immediately for her own, but Dash reached out and stopped her. She turned, staring with a sombre, empty expression. “Please,” she said, shaking her head. “Just… I can’t do this right now, Dash.”

Dash jerked her hoof away as if she had been stung. She winced and turned away. “N-no, you’re right. I’m sorry. I feathered up, Twi. I…” She sighed. “I’m just so sorry.”

Twilight didn’t reply. She went into her room and shut the door. Dash trembled as she heard the lock turn. She dropped her bags on the floor and trudged into her own room, shutting her own door behind her. She plopped onto the bed, buried her face into the pillow, and for the first time since she could remember, cried herself to sleep.

Dash wasn’t sure how long she slept, only that night had fallen somewhere in the meantime. She stared at the ceiling, her mind in a haze of painful, unhappy emotions. She sniffled, and rubbed her nose on her pillow, which reeked of salty tears.

Well, I guess this is it, she thought. I got my answer, now the only thing left is to get over it.

She turned her head to the wall, with Twilight’s room on the other side. She’ll probably avoid me for a while when we get home. The girls will probably ask what happened. We’ll probably hide it for a while, but the secret will get out some how. She sighed. I wonder how that will go over.

And I thought I was the negative aspect, her mind chided.

Dash frowned and whacked her pillow. Don’t even start with me. You’ve been no help at all.

Your Aunt had the right idea. It’s not my fault she acted. It’s your fault for waiting so long.

Dash sniffled again. Just leave me alone… She rolled over and tightened her self in the blankets, when she heard a noise in the common room outside. She craned her head up and stared at the door. “Twilight?”

No answer. She untangled herself from the bed and walked to the door and peeked outside. A breeze of wind hit her in the face as she noticed the window was open. She walked over to shut it, when she heard the rustling of pages. She turned, and saw an open book on the desk, with a candle right beside it. A wisp of smoke trailed from it’s tip, and as Dash approached it, she could smell the waxy aroma.

Past the desk, she noticed that the door to Twilight’s room was open. She peeked her head in. The bed was empty. She turned back to the desk. Is this Twilight’s notebook?

Another breeze drifted through the room. The wind rushed across the desk and picked up the pages. Dash reached out a hoof and stopped the pages and glanced at the first entry.

Day one

This is exciting! I’ve just boarded the airship and I’m already nervous about this trip. I miss the girls already, but I’m so happy that Rainbow Dash was able to come. She’s always been so giving of her time to help the rest of us, I wasn’t surprised that she would do anything to come. I’m glad I don’t have to do this alone, and now we can have such an adventure by ourselves. I can’t imagine what amazing things we’ll see over the next few weeks. And I’m glad to be doing it with somepony like her.

Dash smiled. Of course Twilight would have written this down. What an egghead. She flipped forward a few pages and continued reading.

Day six.

Buckingham has been a very enlightening visit. The airship ride was slow, and I was pretty sure Dash was about to succumb to cabin fever a few times. I’m glad we were able to keep entertained, although her Tic-Tac-Toe skills are rather frightening. I should note to never play Pinkie Pie.

I was surprised, though, when we arrived at the palace of the Duke and Duchess of Cranberry. At first, it seemed that they were very pleasant ponies, but as the dinner went on, we discovered something rather unsettling. It seems that the Duke had a great deal of latent prejudice towards pegasi, due to some rather gloomy history during the country’s founding. Needless to say, he and Dash entered a shouting match that ended up with Dash nearly hitting him. To be honest, I was about to do the same thing when he made a comment about Spike being a monster. I’ve never been so angry in my life.

Dash looked so worried after what she did and she flew off. I was worried as well, until the Duchess started berating her husband for saying such things. Dash looked so upset after she ran away, but I’m glad I was able to find her later and explain what had happened.

That wasn’t even the most memorable part of visiting Buckingham. The one thing I’ll treasure most was what Dash did for me the day before. We visited a quaint little book store, and I couldn’t believe that I found one of the rarest writing sets made in the world. A Sir Gryphon du Pond original! I was ready to buy it right there, but it was so expensive. And then Dash bought it for me. Out of her own money, with no hesitation. I never knew Dash was capable of being so generous, and I don’t think I’d ever be able to repay her properly.

Day Nine

Our stay in Prance was an… interesting experience. The day started off when I lost my map, and Dash and I were forced to enlist the assistance of a tour guide to explore the city. We found a lovely mare named Vanille, who was kind enough to show us around the many cultural districts of the city. My favorite part was the art galleries dedicated to Marble de Chevalier. His work was so inspiring during his time, it was an honor to see it up close. The wing dedicated to his students was also wonderful, although, I did learn something else, and I feel like a fool for not noticing before.

I can’t believe I completely ignored the fact that Dash was with me. I was so grateful for her accompaniment on this trip that I didn’t even realize that we still had different interests. I should have known that she wouldn’t like the galleries, but she put up with them anyways, just for me. I was so grateful for her honesty of her opinion, and I will make sure not to abuse it again.

Dash frowned and skipped past the next part of the entry. Yeah, Prance was weird alright. Not sure I need to reread that.

Day Thirteen

It hurts to write. No, it hurts to think. It’s hurts everywhere. This ‘hangover’, as Dash called it not an experience I will plan on repeating in the future. Antlerdam was an unexpected adventure, one that I don’t think I’ll be able to completely remember. I’m surprised I can remember anything to write now, but I will try.

It was coincidence that an avalanche rerouted us to the land of the deerfolk, but Dash was very excited to visit. She was interested in seeing a music festival. It was a lively event, although a bit loud. I guess Dash noticed that I was uncomfortable with it. It was the least I could do for what occurred in Prance to repay her for the art galleries, even though she insisted that I didn’t need to.

The coincidences continued when we ran into Vinyl Scratch, an old friend of Dash’s and the same mare who was at Shining Armor’s wedding. We followed her to a club. It was a very lively place. The music was loud, the ponies were happy and it was all so… infectious is the only word I can think of. Dash convinced me to dance. I’ve always been wary of my ability to dance, but she just kept encouraging me. The crowd even cheered my name near the end. I’ve never had so much fun before in my life, and I have Dash to thank for that. I can’t remember much after that, and to be honest, I think I’ll be better off not.

Dash stopped, and reread the entry after something caught her attention. Her breaths started to skip as she went through all the previous entries again and again. She went ahead, narrowing her search for anything to affirm her suspicions.

Day Sixteen

We left Germane in a hurry, but I suppose it was for obvious reasons. The Equestrian Games were in full swing during our stay, but it was hardly the reason we departed quicker than intended.

We ran into Gilda, one of Dash’s old friends. I didn’t remember her very well, but Dash seemed to with little difficulty. It wasn’t long before they started arguing again. I managed to talk them into a truce, as they had been friends once, and I hated to see them fighting like that. They made some mistakes in the past, but that was hardly a reason to just toss their friendship away.

But, things only got more complicated from there. Spitfire, an Equestrian athlete ended up being poisoned, and I helped in the investigation at Dash’s insistence. I was worried to discover that Gilda’s brother, Mace, was likely involved. Dash charged in with accusations, and ended up getting into a fight with Gilda.

We got kicked out by the Gryphon Chancellor, and were getting ready to leave when Gilda came to apologise. I was surprised, but not nearly as much as Dash was. What surprised me most of all was how they actually managed to work past their differences and reconcile. I am so proud of Dash and her kindness. This trip has shown me so many new sides of her, and I can’t wait to see what else I can learn from her.

Dash turned to the next entry, and sucked in a sharp breath. The next page was covered in whole sentences crudely scratched out. The first half of the page was covered in false starts and hasty revisions all of which were illegible with heavy coatings of ink. It wasn’t until the following page that Dash could read Twilight’s writing. She swallowed a lump in her throat as her eyes found the start, and continued.

Day… I don’t even know what day it is. I’ve lost track of everything since… well since all of this started. I haven’t been able to think clearly about anything since last night. I keep trying to come up with something new, anything to comb through my thoughts, but all I end up doing is just repeating it over and over.

Rainbow Dash loves me… I don’t understand why, but she does. I could have tried to rationalize it as her just admitting her platonic love as my friend, but there was no mistaking it. She loves me. I can’t believe I didn’t notice. I’m such an idiot.

I ran away. Why was that my first reaction? She’s my friend. She deserved better than that. I’m a big mare. I could have said no, and at least avoided most of the heart ache, but I didn’t. I just ran, I just couldn’t face her. I’m a terrible pony.

But she came for me. Even after what I had done. I don’t know why I tried to keep her from finding me, but she still found me. I was alone, in the freezing cold in a city I didn’t know, trying to pretend it didn’t happen. I just wanted to hide, and she found me. She saved me, like she always does. Her loyalty to me is truly remarkable. I should have never taken it for granted, I know I never will again.

Looking back through this journal, I have discovered something amazing during our time together on this journey. We've grown so close, closer than I realized. Looking at it now, her affection was so obvious, why didn’t I see it? Why didn’t I look with my heart, instead of my stupid brain?

I don’t even know how I feel about her. I don’t know anything about love. Only stories Mom told me when I was little. I didn’t have time for love then, and I didn’t have time for it now.

So why is this different? Why does it hurt now?

Dash fell to the floor. She shook her head, over and over, trying to clear her head, but it didn’t help. Her tensed herself, bracing all her emotions. She wasn’t going to break down, not again. She was going to be strong, regardless of how Twilight truly felt about her. She was confused, just as much as her, that much was certain. But it didn’t make her feel any better.

The pages jumped from another breeze. Dash’s eyes drifted up to the journal and she reached up to close it. She stopped, noticing the edge of the next page was bent. She frowned. Twilight would never do that to a book.

She stood back up, reached out, and turned the page. Her eyes widened. A single message was written in large letters, as if it were waiting for her to finally reach it:

Meet me outside, at the bow. I’m ready to talk.
—Twilight

Dash’s heart began to race. She darted her head side to side, looking at the notebook, the window, and the door. She lost control of her thoughts, and her breathing. She placed a hoof on her chest and breathed a single, deep breath, forcing her body to halt its overclocking nature.

Just calm down, Dash. She wants to talk. I can do this. We can clear the air, and at least get past the awkwardness.

She went for the door, but paused as she reached for the handle. She turned back to the desk, and looked on the other side. Twilight’s bags were still there, and she reached inside for one of her dictionaries. But first, I need to figure out what a bow is.