//------------------------------// // Griffon the Brush-Off // Story: Violet Reflections // by Derpator //------------------------------// Peaceful. Quiet. Relaxing. All of them qualities Twilight enjoyed about reading outside. Sometimes, being cooped up in her castle was daunting, even a bit stressful. She liked a change of scenery every now and then, as much as others might not see it, and sitting in the park, sprawled out on a bench where she could read in the open was nice. Not many ponies came to the park that often. There were a few fillies or colts every now and then, but it was relatively quiet most of the time, only letting Twilight get lost in the words even more. She wouldn’t mind the extra activity, but she didn’t argue against the loneliness. Today’s topic of literature called for something special, or rather, a book she was given from Pinkie Pie. It was a book about rocks, with the insides claiming that it had Maud’s personal seal of approval. Pinkie highly recommended it, the word passed on from Maud herself. It was an enticing novel, but a bit odd. A whole book dedicated to... rocks. She was entranced by Pinkie Pie’s backstory. Recently, she had become more interested in her marefriend’s past. It was never really brought up between the pair, but at the request of Twilight, Pinkie Pie agreed that they’d talk about their younger years. They were both happy about each other’s past. Twilight had discovered a different side of Pinkie’s younger self, especially after she got her cutie mark, while Pinkie Pie had heard about the bookworm’s apparent lonesome ways. Though they continued their sharing stories, Pinkie Pie didn’t partake in her side at the same time. In the particular instance of Twilight lounging out across a park bench, she had decided to use the opportunity to mess with Twilight’s head. To do so, she employed the help of Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie leant her head out from the tree, spotting the alicorn and her wandering eyes over the book. She grinned, as Pinkie Pie’s hoof trailed up her spine. “Is it done?” she asked, still gazing over at Twilight. “Yep!” Pinkie Pie proclaimed, “This is going to be great!” Pinkie Pie snickered. “Yeah. Now remember Pinkie, Twilight can’t know about this, so no distractions ok?” “Got it,” Pinkie Pie affirmed, nodding her head, “Ready?” “Ready,” Pinkie Pie said, “Watch this.” Looking at the wooden tree for a moment, she took in its features, before proceeding to climb up its branches. There were a few rustles and noises as she ascended the tree, Twilight even catching a faint noise at one point, though not overly disturbing. She only went back to reading after it faded. Being as careful as she could, Pinkie Pie positioned herself on a branch overhanging Twilight and the bench, ready to dip down. Twilight definitely heard something, poking her head up from where the sound came from. She wasn’t prepared for a pony to come crashing down right on her, the weight landing on her. She groaned from the sudden impact, clearly annoyed straight away. She quickly turned her head around to give the careless pony a piece of her mind, when it changed, seeing that it was Pinkie Pie. She was still a bit annoyed, but given that it was Pinkie Pie, she could let it slide. “Oh, hey Pinkie,” she gracefully said, glad that her marefriend had decided to ‘drop in’. Pinkie Pie shook her head from the impact, before smiling, perched on top of Twilight. “Hey Twilight,” she happily replied, trying her best to remain joyful. Twilight raised an eyebrow, detecting something odd. “Are you ok? Your voice sounds... off. Are you sick?” Pinkie Pie coughed, rearranging her voice a bit. “Nope, not at all. But that isn’t important right now. What you reading?” Twilight’s smile grew, bringing the book up so that Pinkie Pie could see. “It’s the book you gave me, regarding your past.” Pinkie Pie darted her eyes around, not looking very keen on the book. “Yeah... nice.” “Are you sure you’re ok?” Twilight asked, starting to get concerned. “Yeah,” Pinkie Pie reassured her, “I’m fine.” She chuckled nervously, before pointing towards the book, making herself more comfortable, “Come on, let’s read!” “Right...” Twilight reluctantly agreed, still feeling edgy regarding Pinkie Pie. She looked back at the book, bringing it closer towards the pair. She pointed at a specific point on a page. “This is where I’m at. Remember this?” Pinkie Pie didn’t have a clue what was being described in the literature, and was growing very tense when Twilight was starting to stroke her hoof up her body, showing off her affection. “Uh... yes?” Twilight paused, before turning around once more. “Ok, what’s wrong?” she asked forcefully, knowing something was up. Pinkie Pie gasped, trying to keep up her charade, while in her own eyes, failing, “Nothing.” Twilight continued to rub along Pinkie Pie with her hoof, leaning in a bit. “Come on, you can tell me.” Pinkie Pie started to grow very nervous about the close contact, especially when Twilight only got nearer. “Uh...” Pinkie Pie got the final straw as soon as Twilight leant up and whispered something in her ear, the final breaking point. With immediate haste, she leapt off of Twilight, the plan having failed, standing a few steps away from her on the ground. “Nope! I can’t do this!” “Do what?” Twilight asked, tilting her head, ignoring the fact that Pinkie Pie’s voice had completely changed. “Th-This!” she shouted in response, her breathing having sped up, “Pinkie, come on out! The plan has failed!” Twilight looked behind her, a mare emerging from behind the tree. She looked so happier than the other apparent Pinkie Pie, but Twilight didn’t seem affected by it. “Aww, what happened?” the frowning Pinkie Pie at the tree asked, closing in on the scene. “I can’t... do this!” the other Pinkie Pie exclaimed, before lifting a hoof behind her back, pulling down a zip. The costume came off, revealing Rainbow Dash in full, the costume falling to the ground. “You’re weird Twilight!” she said, pointing a hoof at the alicorn, eying her in a weird fashion. Pinkie Pie joined next to Twilight. “What’d you tell her?” Twilight smirked, leaning in and whispering the same things to Pinkie Pie, a resulting blush appearing. “Whoa...” Rainbow Dash felt a shudder coming over her just from the implications alone. Twilight just told her... that. Something she really didn’t want to hear. “Does this mean we’ve failed?” Pinkie Pie asked Rainbow Dash, feeling rather saddened by the sudden quitting. “Failed?” Rainbow Dash stated, like the word itself was poison, “Failed? There’s no way this could have gone well!” “But you... said it was going to be great.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Maybe so, but it didn’t.” “So what are you going to do now then?” Twilight asked, Pinkie Pie taking Rainbow Dash’s previous spot on top of Twilight. When Rainbow Dash looked back at the pair, she quickly turned away, screaming in disgust, blocking her vision with a hoof. “Guys... please don’t do that.” Pinkie Pie giggled, the only response the pegasus knew she was going to receive. “Ugh... well anyway, I was about to meet up with Gilda.” “Wait...” Twilight said, lowering her gaze, “Did you just say Gilda?” “As in that grumpy-pants who found us all lame?” Pinkie added. Rainbow Dash sheepishly chuckled, but a bit expectantly. “Yeah... that’s her alright. She’s passing through town today and I told her I’d meet up. You know, old friends and all.” “But I thought you two sort of... split up?” Twilight asked, not knowing how to phrase it. It left on a low note, as far as she could recall. “We kinda did,” Rainbow Dash replied, finding it tough to put into words, “She’s come a bit to her senses though. I wouldn’t say she’s perfect, but we’ve made up.” “So what time are you meeting her?” “Not for a little while,” Dash said, sighing again, realising just how long it was. But then she remembered the situation with Twilight and Pinkie Pie, in front of her. It made it awkward very quickly. “Umm, maybe I should head over there now?” “Hmm?” Twilight wondered, turning to Rainbow Dash once more, Pinkie Pie seeming to be in a state of pure relaxation lying on top of her, “Oh, yeah. Sure. Go right ahead.” Rainbow Dash nervously chuckled again, before spreading her wings. “Yeah... thanks Twilight.” Twilight and Pinkie Pie watched Rainbow Dash leap off the ground, setting off at a casual pace through the air, heading to wherever she was going to meet Gilda. The griffon still spelt a red alarm to Twilight, but considering it was a while ago she met her, she couldn’t judge. Perhaps Rainbow Dash was right. Maybe she had changed. She wouldn’t know though. “Maybe she’ll finally give back that apple she stole,” Pinkie exclaimed, still resting on top of Twilight, “She was a thief.” “And a party pooper,” Twilight added. “Yeah... she didn’t turn that frown upside-down did she?” Pinkie Pie emphasised her point by snapping her head upside down perfectly, a bit disturbing. Twilight almost threw Pinkie Pie off of her, the display rather horrifying to her, though somehow comical. It didn’t look like it hurt, but if she did that more times, then something would be wrong. “Pinkie... please don’t ever do that again.” Pinkie shyly returned her head back to normal, before going back to relax on top of Twilight again. Sighing, she allowed her body to rest on top of the alicorn's, planting her head along Twilight’s neck, burying into her mane, before grinning. “We got Dashie didn’t we?” Twilight returned back to reading the book, but allowed Pinkie Pie to remain on her. Grinning, she replied, “we sure did. Getting her to pretend to be you.” Pinkie Pie giggled, slowly tracing her hoof along Twilight’s leg. “Well yeah, I’m the prank master after all.”