//------------------------------// // 4: You Are What You Channel // Story: A Pegasus Salute // by Winged Cat //------------------------------// "So Twilight," Rainbow Dash asked as she sailed in through her apartment's window, "what did that mountain do to you?" In Rainbow's opinion, the day had been positively epic. One of the other pegasi had nearly pulled her away from putting that morning's purchases away after noticing purple-white fireworks on the horizon. Telescopes were soon brought out - no one knew why, but Twilight Sparkle was smashing a mountain, piece by piece, with showy displays of magic. Observation equipment was soon brought out and quite a bit of the town's activity ground to a halt as ponies watched her wreck the giant rock. Twilight soon established a pattern: small experiments and tests, leading up to a few big bursts, then testing some variation. The mountain's snow had totally evaporated by the end of the first hour, with most of what little wildlife that lived on the mountain long since fled. Fluttershy lead an expedition to evacuate the rest, simply ignoring Applejack's objections and worries about safety, but she did warn the volunteers who went with her to stay below the mountain's tree line and out of Twilight's sight. Fortunately, Twilight was still working mainly above the tree line by the time they were done. As the day progressed, Twilight's blasts grew larger and brighter, pounding the once-proud mountain into finer and finer dust. Or perhaps simply obliterating it: there was no sign of dust storms, avalanches, or other indications the rock had merely been chipped away. Applejack sold many lunches to ponies taking in the spectacle, and used the opportunity to let it be known that the cause was, "Certain words that she, Pinkie, an' ah exchanged this morning, an' no we ain't gonna tell ya what words. When she comes back she will want to speak to one o' her friends. Let her do so in peace an' privacy: we do NOT want her goin' off by accident in town today. She'll be safe come sunrise." When sunset neared, Twilight ended the show with what might have been an annihilation beam. Whatever it was, it was easily a hundred times as wide as her own cross section, and scoured what remained of the mountain for twenty straight minutes until all that remained was a crater. Only then did she look back to town, and her audience instinctively knew the show was over. Only Rainbow did not immediately start packing up, so only Rainbow saw Twilight teleport away; fortunately, another pegasus saw her arrival and alerted Rainbow that Twilight was now falling toward the open window of Rainbow's apartment. And so the cyan pegasus found her friend curled up in her bedsheets, shaking and panting. "Twilight?" Enthusiasm quickly gave place to worry as Rainbow entered, then closed the window. "It wouldn't, stop." Twilight's face was pointed in Rainbow's direction, but her eyes were wide and unseeing. Slowly Rainbow stepped up to her bed and her friend. "What wouldn't?" "The, the magic." A shudder passed through Twilight. "I tried to exhaust myself. M, my body can't...but I can still feel the power, Rainbow. I'm scared." Rainbow blinked. "You're saying you're totally exhausted but your horn wants to keep going on?" Twilight nodded mutely. "Tch, that's probably just because you didn't have lunch." Rainbow turned toward her cupboard. "Here, let me fix you some-" With no warning, Twilight launched from bed and glomped Rainbow from behind. "Ooo...kaaay, we can do it this way." Rainbow smiled and adjusted Twilight's hold, placing her friend's legs around her chest. "Don't let go." Twilight squeezed and sniffled. Rainbow resumed her short trek toward food, balancing Twilight on her back like a heavy cape. "So Applejack said you freaked out after you two and Pinkie talked this morning. What were you talking about?" "What...am I?" Twilight buried her head in Rainbow's mane. "You're Twilight, duh!" Rainbow opened her cupboard and surveyed the options. Much of the stores were quick-prepared meals, and there was of course raw hay, but she instead reached toward one section she had not used since moving into this apartment, bringing out two cups and two tea packets, then set one packet in each cup. While she did not have a proper stove, she did have a self-heating kettle; after a quick check to make sure it still had water, she set it on one of her plaques - noting ruefully that she even cooked on her glories now - and tapped a switch on the kettle's bottom rim. "Yes, but...no pony should have this much...too much..." Twilight squeezed again. Rainbow reached up to stroke Twilight's mane. It was a bit of a stretch to reach from this angle, but the athletic pegasus kept herself limber for a number of reasons. "If there's anypony who can handle power, it's you, Twilight." With her other forehoof she extracted a strand of hay from her cupboard and held it near Twilight's mouth. "Here. Eat it all; having something in your belly will make you feel better." Twilight could not argue with her friend's advice, and so began munching the hay. Rainbow continued stroking Twilight's mane and sighed. "So let's see. You got scared when you talked to Miss Honesty. And Pinkie was there too - probably what she wanted to talk to you about last night? Heh, I hope you told her I forgave her for that, by the way. And whatever it was had you demolishing a mountain all day. It's sooomething about you having so much power. Just a guess, but Applejack told you what it means to be Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight continued to munch. "So back at the library, we agreed on one thing it means to be you but you didn't want to admit a couple others. Let's talk about your magic, Twilight. Like it or hate it, bless or curse, it's what you have to deal with." Rainbow turned off the kettle the moment she saw telltale wisps of steam emerge from it, and poured into the waiting cups. She had thought she would inaugurate them here to have tea with Fluttershy, but Twilight needed this. Twilight was almost done, having reached the head of the stalk. "I've got speed and style. Sometimes it's even a problem for me. You've got power. You haven't hurt any of us with it yet...much." Rainbow dash winced where Twilight could not see, remembering all too clearly when Twilight's magic had created problems for Ponyville. "If you're worried you'll blow out a wall or something, Celestia said you've outgrown that." Twilight choked. "Yeah, yeah, she showed us her scrapbook from when you were young. You looked sooo cuuute apologizing to her for that first time you incinerated your bed in your sleep." Rainbow giggled. Twilight coughed twice, forcing the bit of hay that had gone down the wrong pipe back into her mouth, then swallowed it. Rainbow wished the had a mirror, as all she could see of Twilight right now was her forelegs. "You okay up there?" "Yeah, I'm-" Twilight coughed once more. "I'm fine. Gah." She levitated one cup to her lips and sipped. "Mmmh, got a bit of a kick. Lemon tea?" "Lemon spice tea," Rainbow corrected. "Fluttershy says it's a midpoint between her and me: not quite soft and mellow, not quite hard and fast." "Was this meant for her? I'm sorry, I-" Without even looking, Rainbow held a hoof up to block Twilight from levitating the cup away. "You need it, so it's for you. Besides, don't tell me you've never had tea with Fluttershy." Twilight blinked. "Actually, I hadn't. I'll have to ask her." Rainbow nodded, as much as she could without throwing off her friend. "You do that." She took the other tea and sipped, savoring the warmth and flavor, swishing it around her mouth a bit before gulping and feeling it go as far down as her throat could feel. "Ahh." "Hmm. It really does calm you down." Twilight finally let go, sliding off to stand at Rainbow's side. "Sorry about that. And you're right, even just one stalk in here..." She patted her stomach. "I wasn't aware I was so hungry." Rainbow finished off her tea and grinned. "Yeah, using a lot of energy will do that. The scale's probably different for you but not the basic rules. You're still a pony like the rest of us." She began rooting around in her cupboard again. Twilight's eyes were on the floor. "It...really means a lot to hear you say that. Thank you." Rainbow paused and looked at Twilight. "What, that your scale's way higher than ours?" Twilight shook her head. "After that." "That..." Rainbow blinked. "...you're still under the same rules?" Twilight looked up. "That I'm still a pon-" Rainbow grinned. Twilight frowned. "Oooh! Sometimes you really get under my skin, you know that?" Rainbow winked. "That IS what we planned." She resumed sorting through food. Twilight blushed. "Aaanyway...actually, I am a bit afraid of burning the bed down. Or Ponyville. Back when I got my cutie mark was my first major accident. I told you, right?" Rainbow nodded, examining a large white cup with a paper seal across its top. "Grew Spike through the roof, turned your parents into plants, chaos until Celestia came and put a stop to it. Didn't you say my first Sonic Rainboom caused it?" "Yeah. It was this surge of power, and I didn't have full control over my most powerful magic for a while after that. Well..." Twilight looked to the side. "...lately my magic's been growing in power again, quickly. So far I've been able to control it, but...I'm afraid, Rainbow. Applejack helped me realize just how strong I've become already, and...I think Celestia plans for me to get stronger than her, in time. Maybe strong enough that I could one day hold her magic, in case she...falls." "'Falls'?" Rainbow absently questioned, opening the large pack of dried noodle soup and pouring in what remained of the kettle's hot water. In theory it was enough soup for 3 to 4 servings, but between skipping lunch and dinner, the amount of magic Twilight had channeled that day, and Rainbow planning to snag a bit for herself, she deemed it a perfect solution for the situation. "Like Luna did." Rainbow nodded, resealing the soup cup. "Depressive crazy talk, check. Hold on, hold on, this takes a few minutes." "Rainbow!" Twilight frowned. "This isn't just my hunger talking!" "Sure it isn't." Rainbow set the container down so as to look at Twilight. "Listen to yourself. Celestia falling? Yeah, that'll happen in my lifetime. Sure you're getting stronger, and I don't doubt that's what Celestia wants, but - I dunno, maybe she wants another partner, like Cadance? Don't forget, you got her out of a thousand years of practically solo rule." Twilight blinked. Rainbow raised a hoof. "I know what you're thinking, and I'm going to cut it off right there, 'cause I've had the same line of thought. I was thinking, once I was a Wonderbolt life would be awesome, right? But what would that be like? I wouldn't be in training to measure up to them, I'd BE one of them. Sure, I'd still train to be the best that I could be, but then I wouldn't be coming up to anypony else's example. I'd be the example others want to be." Lowering her hoof and smiling, she continued, "So be the Princess that Celestia wants you to be. That I want you to be. That everypony wants you to be." The thought churned against impossibilities. That much power? That much responsibility? Twilight looked out the window and replied quietly, "But...I don't know if I can, Rainbow Dash." "Sure you can! Not right now, not today. You think I got this awesome in a day? You need to train too." Rainbow put a hoof on Twilight's cheek and nudged her face toward Rainbow. "But first you gotta eat." Her other hoof removed the soup container's seal, brought the large cup up to Twilight's mouth, and tilted until warm broth began trickling into her friend's mouth. Twilight felt her mouth fill and let instinct take over, gulping the soup down - then again, then a third mouthful before Rainbow relented. She took in a deep breath to compensate for having been cut off from air unexpectedly; when she exhaled, she found worries and tension flowing out of her. "Thanks. I do feel better." Rainbow smiled. "Told ya! Alright, ready? I'm gonna do the rest now, and snag a bit for myself too." Barely waiting for acknowledgement, she tipped the soup up again. This time noodles and small bits - Twilight recognized carrot chips and peas, but not the small grey-brown flakes - floated into her mouth with the broth. Rainbow slid her muzzle next to Twilight's, opened wide, and tilted the container the rest of the way. A small drop of broth ran down Twilight's chin, but Twilight took more notice of some of the noodles now being in both their mouths. Rainbow slowly began working her way along the shared noodles, inching her lips toward Twilight's... Realization of Rainbow's plan and embarrassment struck Twilight. She bit off the noodles and looked away, averting Rainbow's attempt at a kiss. Rainbow frowned, slurping up her half of the severed noodles. Twilight gulped and looked back, still facing away. "Sorry." She was keenly aware that her heartbeat had increased, not quite racing but definitely enough to make her feel warm. Rainbow shook her head as she swallowed her portion. "Nah, it's okay. I guess that move is kinda cheesy." "Kind of, yeah." Twilight took another breath, trying to calm her heart. "But thanks." Rainbow smiled. "You can thank me for that by kissing me." Twilight pictured it, and her heart beat slightly faster. "U-umm...and how do I thank you for believing in me?" Rainbow leaned forward, nuzzled Twilight's mane, and gently traced a path up to Twilight's ear where she whispered, "By believing in yourself." Twilight's wings unfurling of their own accord would be the last thing she remembered that night with total clarity.