//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Bumpy Road // Story: The Last Vacation // by Noble Thought //------------------------------// Road trips had been something of a family tradition for Twilight. Every summer, and sometimes during the school year, her family would go on one to some city or another, or some historic site.   The tar pits south of Dodge Junction were a popular place—for her family, at least. She was no stranger to the long hours of nothing much to do except think or read, and she had never before felt restless on a long road trip. Usually, she had more than enough to read and think about to keep her mind occupied.   During that drive, with the sun stretching up towards noon and shrinking shadows that flitted by from telephone and power poles, everything felt different. The road humming underneath the van, usually a sound to help her focus had become a long, low droning that filled Twilight with a longing to do.   What, though? She flipped open her phone again, and scrolled down to Sunset’s contact. Call her? She flicked a look at Rainbow, engrossed in her phone, playing that racing game. Pinkie had her MyStable page open, and Fluttershy was listening to music and watching the plains and hills rolling by. Text her?   Sighing, she closed it again and tried to settle back in her seat, watching Rainbow tapping the controls on her screen, driving a little car around a virtual track while numbers popped and flashed across the screen.   Sunset kept coming back to mind, and try as she might, she couldn’t not flip her phone open again to stare at the contact and the two buttons. Finally, she tapped the Text key and wrote a short message, then stared at it.   Is it good enough? Should I say something more? Her thumb hovered over the Send key. “Should I call her,” she murmured under her breath, thumb twitching to rest on the Call key again.   “Count primes, ladybug.” Cadance’s memory said in her mind. “Whenever I need to get my mind off something, I count prime numbers. How high can you go?”   “Two,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “Three, five, seven, eleven…”     She got up to one thousand, three hundred and twenty-one that first time—before Sunset came back in her mind. Her record, topping off in the ten-thousands, felt a far distance off. I’m better at this! Why is this so hard, now?   You’ve never had a friend hurting and been unable to do anything, before. Except that wasn’t quite true. Not quite. She could have called, could have told everyone else about Sunset’s depression. But that would betray the trust Sunset had placed in her. And texting felt so… passive.   Well, you are good at being passive. She sighed, fingering her phone where it lay on the seat between her and Rainbow. It didn’t buzz, or chirp, and it was a struggle not to check it every time a white marker flashed by.   Also not helping was the occasional text from Sunset to Pinkie.   “Oooh! They had a blast at the arcade! Sunset beat them at Dance Prance Revolution.”   Every text that came in, the first text played over and over in her mind. ‘I’m feeling pretty awful.’   Why would Sunset lie? Why does she want the girls to stay away? Why… More questions she didn’t know the answer to, piling up on top of all the other questions swirling around in the back of her mind.   The questions kept coming back whenever she closed her eyes, and the hum in her heart grew less and less, and the tight bands circling it grew tighter until it seemed that her body must thrum in time with the painful crescendo.   Each time, she would focus on the primes, and start off again at two. Each time, she got fewer and fewer right before she started including non-prime numbers or simply forgot where she was.   Friendship is not math. Is it music? Music was mathematical. Symmetrical. Friendship was messy, and complicated… and beautiful. That thought, at least, made her smile.   One… The thought fizzled out. One’s not a prime number! One call was all it would take. One friend, maybe alone. One friend she couldn’t do anything for. Not right now. Can I?   Not without breaking Sunset’s request to keep her distress from them. She flipped her phone open again to the draft of a message she had almost sent several times. Next to the Send button was the Call button, and her thumb kept twitching to it.   But Sunset had asked her to keep her troubles secret from the others. Why? Calling her would be the right thing to do, make sure she was okay. But right for who was another question. Right for her. But Sunset had asked her to keep it quiet.   Why?   Twilight Sparkle— I’ll call you tonight. After the others have gone to sleep.   Send it.   She wanted to. Her thumb hovered over the button. Promising to call meant she would have to hide it from her friends. Not promising to call meant she would have to torture herself with listening to the falsehoods spilling from Pinkie’s phone.   Rainbow, beside her, was still engrossed in whatever game she was trying to achieve a new record in now, and the furrow-browed concentration on the other girl’s face said she was paying little attention to anything else. Twilight looked away before it seemed the pressure of her gaze must alert Rainbow to her stare.   She added a small bit to the end of the text.   Are you doing what you keep telling Pinkie? I don’t know what to think, Sunset. I’m worried for you.   She read it twice more, going over the words in her mind, wondering if there was something else she could say, or a better way to word it.   But, like the prime numbers, she couldn’t focus on the words or what else would make it better.   Minutes passed, the road hummed, and Twilight pressed Send. Sunset, she could help later. She glanced at Rainbow again, still intent on her phone, and held back another sigh. Today is going to be a long day. I just know it.   Surprisingly, she didn’t feel despair at the thought. Anticipation, maybe. She didn’t know what was going to happen, and that was almost exciting.     “Alright, everybody! We’re here!” The engine died as Applejack announced it.   Twilight sat up straighter, rubbing her phone against her jeans. Sunset had finally texted her back just a few minutes ago. She looked at it again before closing her phone.   —Sunset Shimmer Okay. I didn't know she was telling everyone. I just wanted her not to worry. I mean, I suppose I'm better, now. I'm just feeling down. Nothing went like I wanted. Can't wait to talk to you.   It was enough to keep her from calling right away and worry about what her friends thought later, and enough to know that Sunset would wait for her to call. For a time, she could put it aside. Worrying about what was wrong wasn’t going to help, either. She forced herself to look around as everyone else unbuckled seat belts and opened doors to let in the clear, cool air that smelled faintly of oil and dirt.   Hayseed was a small town. Main Street ended almost before it began, and not even a stop sign decorated the corner where it faded back into highway. A silver railcar cafe, a couple houses with peeling paint and unkempt lawns, and a large yard full of farm equipment, huge tanks, and rust occupied most of what could be considered the town proper. More houses stretched off into the shallow hills backing the town against the bluffs along the coast, hidden by trees and the bulk of the enormous barn Applejack had pulled up to.   The white lettering on the side of the barn proclaimed Turnip Farm Equipment. A smaller brick building squatted next to it, with faded and chipped gold lettering in the single window spelling ‘Office.’ No other vehicles sat in the parking lot, and Twilight had to twist all the way around to face the cafe to see any vehicles that weren’t spotted with rust. There, a lone jeep with a sun-faded, brown canvas top sat alongside the diner, towards the back.   In the distance, huge plumes of dust followed straight lines along the tapestry of fields spreading out around into the hazy distance, right up to the edge of a dark bank of towering clouds, their dark bottoms lit with occasional flashes of lightning.   Closer, massive concrete silos stood like bizarre, stumpy mesas sprouting frameworks of delicate seeming steel walkways and tubing from their tops, and long chutes that hung mostly upright, angling away from the sides. A train, or part of one, was sitting alongside the concrete-grey and rust-streaked pillars, and one of the chutes levering from the side of the silos billowed reddish dust as a hair thin stream of gold poured into the open grain bin on one of the cars.   “Huh.” Rainbow finally closed her game and stuffed her phone into a jacket pocket. “Small town. Looks dead.”   Twilight touched her phone, jerked her fingers away.   “Sleepy,” Applejack said, stretching to press her palms against the roof and arching her back. “Hayseed ain’t a busy city like Canterlot, but there’s more of these towns out there than ya think. Just, uh… most everyone’ll be out working the fields today, gettin’ ready to, or already planting.”   “Dead,” Rainbow said again, voice light.   “Heh. Just you come around for the goat race.”   “Uh…” Rainbow shifted her gaze to Twilight, smiled, and rested her hand on Twilight’s. “Maybe some day, huh?”   “Yeah!” Her own voice sounded forced. Twilight didn’t trust herself enough to try smiling, but she did it anyway.   Rainbow’s smile turned into a faint frown, as she squeezed Twilight’s hand firmly. “Talk,” she whispered. She caught Pinkie’s eye with a wave of her other hand and jerked her chin at the door.   With a wink, Pinkie drew Fluttershy away to stretch in the sunlight just far enough away to give them some privacy. Rarity sat in the front seat, staring at her reflection in the van’s sunshade mirror with a tube of lipstick out. At least, that’s what Twilight thought until she caught Rarity’s staring back at her in it.   “Well,” Rarity said briskly, snapping the mirror back into place, “I say, it’ll be nice to get some fresh air that isn’t salty.”   After she left and closed the door, Twilight relaxed somewhat.   She and Rainbow were alone.   “Twi…” Almost, Rainbow seemed about to go on, but her eyes flickered back and forth between staring into one and then the other of Twilight’s. She sighed, tightened her grip briefly on Twilight’s hand, and let go. “About this morning.”   Something changed this morning. She almost said it aloud, had her mouth open to say it, but nothing came out. Something held the words back. I don’t know if I’m ready. To say them, to admit she was afraid of what it meant. Or if it meant anything.   Two, three…   Rainbow touched her hand, and all thoughts of math flew out of her head.   “It’s okay.” Rainbow craned her neck, eyes darting back and forth, then settled back in her seat. “I like you, Twi. A lot. You’re smart, and you’ve been there for us without a lot to expect in return. Heh. You even helped me get that D to a C in algebra.”   “But…” She could hear it in Rainbow’s voice. The but that changed everything.   “No buts. I like you. And maybe…” Rainbow bit her lip, raising her hand to touch Twilight’s cheek. “Maybe we can be together. If you want to. But don’t think that me falling asleep on you was anything more than it was. You make a good pillow.”   “Oh.”   “And I’m sorry if, well… heh. I’ll be the first to admit I ain’t exactly modest, but if seein’ someone naked means being in love, well, hell…” Rainbow’s cheeks colored, and she hesitated, her hand still stroking Twilight’s cheek gently. “All the girls on the team are in love. Communal showers’n’all.”   “That’s stupid, isn’t it?” But she’d never seen anyone else naked—herself excluded—and aside from her explorations—she turned aside from those quickly as heat burned in her cheeks.   “Yeah. But—”   Here it is.   “Stop giving me that look. There’s no but.” Rainbow shifted her hand to cradle the back of Twilight’s neck and shuffled closer. “You’re a great friend. If you want there to be more, or think there might be, I’ll give it a go.” She jerked a thumb at the diner. “Heck, this’ll be our first date, if you want it to be.”   Date? Already? Her heart thumped harder. She jerked her head around to glance at the diner. Less than two hundred feet away. She could see the red, high backed booths, and the polished gleaming tables inside where someone was moving about from one to the next. She saw herself sitting there, beside Rainbow, their hands held covertly under the table, and sharing a look, then a kiss when no one was watching.   Too fast! Her heart skipped a beat, or a dozen, and the strings around her heart trembled. She could accept. She could stumble blindly into a relationship. Without knowing what my heart says. She didn’t even know if it mattered that she didn’t know. The imaginary scene played again in her head, but she didn’t know if it was right, or what she wanted. Briefly, she saw each of her friends flicker through the place Rainbow sat, ending with Sunset, and then back to Rainbow. Each of them kissed her, held her hand, and warmed her heart.   I don’t know!   Rainbow backed off, sliding her hand down to Twilight’s shoulder, squeezing briefly before sliding down to twine her fingers together with Twilight’s. “Okay. Just take it easy, Twi. I…” She cast another quick look about, then drew both their hands up to plant a light kiss on Twilight’s. “I don’t want to hurt you.”   “I’m confused, Dashie,” Twilight whispered, dropping her phone and pulling Rainbow’s hand up to press to her cheek. “I don’t know what I want.” The confession felt like a jolt of fire coming up from her belly to seize her throat. She didn’t even know if she’d meant to say it. So much seemed to just be spilling out of her without even trying, And so much that should have come out stayed locked up.   “Yeah.” Rainbow scooted over the center cushion to sit closer, and guided Twilight down to rest a cheek on her shoulder. “Me either, but we’ll figure it out together.”   Twilight let herself be lost in being held. Emotion felt like a distant shore, where she could see the waves rolling higher and higher up the sand towards where she stood. Thought, too, was distant, though she could feel questions burbling along, a stream of them waiting to rush over her.   But, for a moment, it didn’t matter. She was safe.   Some time later, Applejack leaned against the van with her back turned, and knocked on the back window. “Y’all need some more time? Office manager’s here.”   Twilight stifled a giggle in Rainbow’s shoulder and pulled back, surprised to see a small wet spot on Rainbow’s dark blue jersey. Crying? “Yes.”   Rainbow stiffened slightly, and her arms tightened, pulling Twilight closer, then loosened. "Can't hide in here forever, Twi. Let's go."       “Y’all don’t have to come in, if you don’t want to, but Turnip’s an old friend. He’s at the rodeo near every year… well, usually.” She clapped a hand to Twilight’s shoulder. “Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you’d take a moment to say ‘Hi’ at least.”   “S-sure.” Twilight clutched tighter to Rainbow’s hand, then forced herself to relax her hold when Rainbow shook her hand. Applejack hadn’t even glanced at their clasped hands.   “Real quick. I’m gettin’ hungry,” Rainbow said, shooting a look at the diner and licking her lips. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a real burger, and not some fake—” “Ahem.” Rarity shook her head, then jerked her chin at Fluttershy.   “Sure, sure. But business is business, and it’s gotta be taken care of.” Applejack shrugged and pushed open the door, waving them all in with a whispered: “And courtesy is courtesy, but I could use a burger, too,” that Twilight barely heard.   She strode in after them, a grin spreading as she held out a hand. “Hey there, Turnip Truck. Been awhile since I seen you at a rodeo.”   “AJ,” he said, reaching out to clap her hand with one of his, pump it once and let go. “Couple years, I reckon, not that I’ll forget that performance. Was pretty sweet, the way you wrangled them cows. How you been?”   “Good enough, TT, good enough.” Applejack half-turned, and waved a hand at the other five crowding into the small office. “These are my friends. Rarity, I think you’ve met, once.”   “How do you do, sir? Though, I do believe it was your father I met when I was just a girl.”   "Right you are, ma'am." Before taking her hand, he looked at his, wiped it on the side of his coveralls with a sheepish half-smile, and held just her fingers in his. "Pleasure to meet ya."   Twilight hid partway behind Rainbow, letting her hand slip free to slide her arm around Rainbow's waist, her chin resting on a shoulder as she let her eyes roam over the office.   It wasn’t exactly a small office, but there were so many gleaming replicas of various farm machines made of sharp angles and green-painted steel cutting into the open space that it felt cramped.   A single desk sat cramped into a corner with an ancient computer humming away noisily, a game of Solitaire flickering on its ancient CRT monitor. A phone, looking newer than the computer, sat on the corner of the desk.   I wonder what Sunset’s doing.   If her phone had chirped right then, she would have jumped through the roof, but she still felt it pressing in against her thigh. She shifted, squirming behind Rainbow as she tried to ease the phone in her pocket without being obvious.   “This here’s Rainbow Dash, and, uh...” Applejack paused a moment in her introductions, shooting a glance over Rainbow's shoulder at Twilight, eyebrows creeping up. “And, uh, Twilight Sparkle.”   All of her friends were staring at her, Pinkie having joined the dance along, and Rarity holding a hand politely over a widening smile. She stopped, her cheeks heating until she wanted to melt into a puddle and disappear.   Turnip Truck was staring at her, too, but stuck his hand out after only a brief hesitation. “Pleased to meet ya.”   “A-a pleasure, sir.”   His hand was rough, and she could feel the years of hard labor through the steady solidity of his handshake. “Ain’t no sir. I work for a living.” The sudden grin blooming on his face made her smile, too. Was that a joke? “Always a pleasure to meet a friend of AJ’s.”   Rainbow grinned as she shook his hand next. “Town’s kinda dead. Whatcha do for fun around here?”   “Rainbow!” Applejack swatted her shoulder.   “S’alright, AJ.” Turnip shrugged and stuck his hands into his overalls, looking like a bluff farmer. Twilight didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye. “Tip cows. Kick cans down the road. Y’know, all sortsa excitin’ stuff.”   “Turnip...” Applejack shook her head. “Gosh darnit, don't feed her that line. She’ll eat it up and not ask twice. Girl’s as gullible as a pig on a leash.”   “Am not!” Rainbow Dash shot back, raising a finger to jab at Applejack's shoulder. It paused halfway. "Wait... how gullible is a pig on a leash?"   "Ah-heh." Applejack shrugged, sticking her hands in her jeans pockets, and kicked at the ground.   Rainbow scowled, folding her arms under her breasts.   Turnip slapped his thigh and leaned back against a tall hunk of farm equipment. “Naw, we don’t do that,” he said, following with a laugh that would have done a donkey’s bray proud. “We got a race track out in the hills, a couplea folks have big TVs. Not much different’n city folk, I’d wager. ‘Ceptin a few things.” His eyes slid to Applejack, and his grin widened. “We do tip cows. Just gotta be faster’n the cow. They don’t tip easy, and they get right ornery.”   “Uh...” Rainbow flicked a look at Applejack, shaking her head. “Right. Sounds like a blast.” She stepped back to stand beside Twilight, one arm going slipping around Twilight’s waist.   “This might take a bit, y’all,” Applejack said as she pushed the door back open. “Why doncha head over to the diner?”       The brightly polished windows of the diner reflected almost everything as Twilight walked across the street. She could see the higher hills in the distance, and even the dust trail rising where a car or truck was making its way, unseen, through one of the innumerable vales.   She could also see herself and her friends as they walked. Fluttershy walked on Twilight’s right, and Rainbow Dash on her left. Pinkie carried on a one-sided conversation with all of them about how all kinds of malt flavoring would go best with what kind of ice cream in the shakes that all of them were going to have.   Twilight listened with half an ear, her attention on the double doors that framed her and Rainbow Dash near perfectly. From her perspective, at least. It seemed like the reflection was focused on their hands, clasped together.   Do we make a good couple? She was smiling in that reflection, and resisted touching her face to tell if she was—though by the thinnest margin. I can’t tell after just an afternoon!   Except she had known Rainbow for a month. Known all of them, for as long. Is that enough time? The smile in the window turned into a frown as she considered how long Shining and Cadance had been together—more than six years, and married for two.   And college was looming for them all. Twilight had her sights set on Canter Ridge. Rainbow…   “Where do you want to go to college?” As soon as it left her lips, she clapped a hand to her mouth.   “Huh?” Rainbow shook her head. “Twi, that’s a bit far off. Like… couplea years. But I’d like to play for the Canterlot Wonderbolts.”   Stay here? But Canter Ridge is across the continent! Her reflection frowned at her, and she pushed that aside. Stop it! You don’t know if you’re going to even be together. “It’s one more year, Rainbow. Don’t you remember the test prep?”   “Eh, it was just a test prep. It’s not the real test. They even said it didn’t matter what kinda score we got.”   “That’s not what I heard.” Pinkie poked her in the shoulder. “You missed Cotton Candy is Dandy Day because of it, didn’t you? I know your mom was mad, and I heard your coach had you run a lap for every point below passing you were.”   “It was just five laps.” Rainbow shrugged, her shoulders remaining hunched slightly. “Come on, I was hungry and tired.”   “That’s no excuse, Rainbow.” Twilight twitched her hand away from fingering her phone, and the Twilight in the reflection scowled as fiercely as any bear. “It was a test. They all matter, even the practice ones. Especially the practice ones. They tell you where you need to improve.”   Rainbow prodded Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Back me up. I did okay at Cloudsdale. Right?”   “Um… I’d rather not get—”   “Fluttershy! I did okay. I really did.” Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Come on, tell her.”   “Rainbow, this isn’t like Elementary School. I’m sure you did wonderfully,” Twilight said, pulling Rainbow closer, and away from Fluttershy. “This is High School, and college is just around the corner.”   What if we don’t go to the same school? That was followed swiftly by: Why am I thinking that far ahead? I don’t know if we’ll be together. Good grief, I don’t even know if we are together. Just friends. We’re friends. Friends holding hands. In public. She almost laughed, but wanted to stop everything and examine what was happening to her—wanted to talk to Sunset Shimmer, to her brother, to Cadance.   One of them would have an answer.   “Twi, lay off. I’ve got time to study. It’s not like the real test is tomorrow.” Rainbow’s hand tightened on hers, the other resting against diner door’s pull bar. “This is a vacation, remember? Worry later.”   “Twilight, you have to listen to Dashie,” Pinkie said, tugging at her opposite elbow. “Having fun is just as important as any test. If you don’t have fun, then why bother?”   “But… learning is fun.”   “And that’s wonderful,” Fluttershy said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “But it isn’t fun for everyone. Or not in the same way, at least.”   “Exactly! So let it go for just a little while, okay? I promise, I’ll let you tutor my brains out.” Rainbow hauled open the door, laughing. “Later.”   “Fine.” Twilight sighed and leaned against Rainbow, a wan smile twitching up from the frown for a moment. “But, even on vacations, I’ve thought about school. I love school. I love learning. I wouldn’t call it worrying, really.”   “Sure.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she ushered the other two girls in with a jerk of her chin.   “Maybe it is a little like worrying.”   “But there’s some things you just don’t gotta worry about right now.” Rainbow leaned in closer as Pinkie bounced, and Fluttershy walked inside. Her voice dropped to a rough whisper. “Worry about school later. Worry about us later. Have fun now. Our kind of fun.”   “I’ll try.”