Daring Dash leapt across the chasm, holding the golden staff in her mouth. As she landed on the other side with a skid, she shoved the staff into one of her saddlebags. “Hey, egghead, get a move on!” she shouted to Twilight, still perched on the other side of the chasm.
Twilight watched as large boulders and stoney debris tumbled into the huge gap between herself and the adventurous pegasus. The ancient temple was collapsing around them, fast. “I- I can't! My magic doesn't work in this place...”
“Just use your wings then!! It's not that far!”
“I'm not sure I can... There's rocks falling everywhere! I'm not agile enough to dodge them!”
“Well, your other choice is to get smashed by a rock right where you're standing! I'm NOT coming back over there to get you, egghead!”
Twilight swallowed hard and peered over the edge down into the endless dark. She flapped her untrained wings and started a wobbly attempt at crossing the chasm. Huge pieces of the stone walls were falling all around her, and she tried her best to steer clear of them all. She had her aim set at Rainbow. She was so close! Almost there! She could practically reach out and touch-
SLAM!
A huge piece of jagged rock hit Twilight's right wing, and she spun out of control. There was a jarring stab of pain, and the world was a blurry mess. Somehow though, Twilight managed to grab onto something...
She was hanging on to a ledge by her hoof. Her right wing was in great pain, clearly broken. She looked up, and saw Daring Dash staring down at her with a weird smirk on her face.
“Oh, Celestia, my wing hurts!! Wha- what are you smiling at?! Please, grab my hoof and pull me up, Rainbow!”
Daring Dash just laughed at her.
The colorful pegasus' voice had adopted a mocking tone. “Nah, I don't think so. You've just been slowing me down this whole time!”
Twilight could not believe what she heard. Tears started forming in the corners of her eyes. “R- Rainbow, please..!”
“You're just a nerd, Twilight, and I'm way to awesome for ponies like you.” The beautiful glimmer in her eye was suddenly spiteful and mean. The blackness of the eye engulfed Twilight, suddenly an endless pit leading straight down to Tartarus. Twilight lost her grasp. She fell, as a raspy laugh echoed in the darkness...
Twilight awoke cold with sweat. To her despair, she could hear birds chirping outside. This of course meant that it was no longer night, and therefore going back to sleep was not really an option.
Twilight's bedsheets were a bundled up mess, and not for any good reason. She had tossed and turned in bed all night, only managing to catch a few nightmare-ridden moments of sleep. Twilight did have a tendency to get insomnia, but she could usually explain the cause of it. This time, she wasn't really sure what the deal was. That dream...what the hay was that about?!
She got out of the moist, sweaty bed, and walked over to her dressing table. She looked in the mirror with a small sigh. It was all as messy as the bedsheets. Bags under the eyes, a sticky and oily mane. Worst of all, something bugged her, and she didn't know why. She went to take a shower. Not only would it clean her from the sticky sweat and help her wake up, the shower was also one of the best places in the world to just think about stuff.
The water streamed down over Twilight's purple coat as her thoughts drifted. A certain pink piece of paper entered her mind. It wasn't even grammatically correct! Perhaps Rainbow was right to call it an insult. Really, who is so careless that she misspells a love letter..?
That question should have been left as a rhetorical, but some part of Twilight kept the thought going. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up towards the shower head, letting the fresh water wash over her face. It felt purifying.
...Applejack? Pinkie Pie perhaps? I shouldn't think such things about my friends, but AJ's education is very rural, and I'm not sure if Pinkie even has an education at all. Applejack doesn't seem like the type though. To write a sentimental love poem, that is. Pinkie Pie, however...
Twilight closed the shower faucet and dried herself off with a purple towel embroidered with her own cutie mark. She then wrapped her mane inside another towel and exited the bathroom.
Pinkie Pie is so goofy sometimes that it's hard to imagine her actually capable of being in love, but if she was she would probably express it... well, like a little filly. An anonymous letter is probably very much something she would do... in fact, it was even pink, like a childish clue almost.
Twilight looked out the window. The weather had gotten considerably worse since she had entered the shower. The trees were moving violently in the wind. Feeling discouraged by the grey sky, Twilight just wanted to go back to bed. However, one glance at the messy bedsheets made her reconsider immediately.
She instead laid herself down on one of the bedroom's chaise lounges. A type of furniture that the castle had quite an excess of, for some reason. Twilight guessed that Rarity or somepony had felt that they gave a royal touch to the place.
Twilight should have found Pinkie's letter sweet, but the more she thought about it, she instead just felt grossed out. She stared blankly out at the gloomy sky.
I feel bad for thinking this, but really, what would Rainbow do with somepony like Pinkie? Sure, they are both into pranks and games, but Rainbow is... more down to earth than she seems. She doesn't want it to show, but I've come to realize lately that she has such a gentle side to her.
Twilight thought of the flying lessons she had been getting from Rainbow since her transformation. Whenever Twilight had faltered, or crashed, or given up, Rainbow had grabbed her hoof and picked her back up with a reassuring and determined smile. “C'mon, princess, let's try it one more time! I know you can do it! After all, you're getting lessons from the best flier in Equestria!”
And then of course, there had been those rumored preening lessons... Twilight remembered feeling so very embarrassed when she had asked for Rainbow's help on the matter, but she hadn't known where else to turn to.
Rainbow had scratched her own neck and blushed at the request. “Uhm, it's kinda... y'know, intimate. Usually the parents teach their foals how to do it when they are very young, but... I guess there is no other way...”
Twilight remembered extending a trembling wing for Rainbow Dash to demonstrate on. “Oh, man, this is so damn awkward..,” Rainbow had mumbled, staring hesitantly at the wing in front of her. Twilight had seen that Rainbow was blushing just as bad as herself, which in a way had made her feel a bit better.
The thing is, Rainbow could very well have refused to do it, or told Twilight to just read a book about it. But in the end, she had handled it like a professional. A blushing, stuttering, awkward professional...
As she looked back, Twilight couldn't help but smile. There was so much more to Rainbow Dash than the strong, confident athlete. There was also the kind, supportive and caring Rainbow, the one for which she had earned her element of loyalty. The one who wouldn't give up on a hopeless case such as Twilight. The one who passionately discussed Daring Do books over mugs of hot chocolate on cold winter nights. The one who... I think I'm falling in love with...
The realization hit Twilight's gut like a ton of bricks.
“Uh, helloo?!!” a voice suddenly shouted from downstairs.
Twilight was not in the mood to receive any guests, or attend to any princess duties whatsoever. She just wanted to lie right where she was... for the rest of the day. “Who is it?! We're closed! I mean, we're busy! I'm busy!”
“Twilight? It's Rainb-!”
POOF!
The alicorn suddenly appeared a few inches in front of Rainbow Dash's face downstairs in the entrance hall.
“Rainbow!! How nice to see you!” Twilight said, smiling hyperactively.
Rainbow flinched backwards, almost falling onto her butt. “Oh! H- hi, Twi! Uhm, heh, you're looking good, girl!”
Twilight's eyes and wings started opening wide and she felt a blush coming on. “Wh- whaa?”
Rainbow pointed a hoof at the towel on her head. “Nice turban!”
“Huh?!” Twilight forced her wings to snap back into place. “Y- yeah, right! Hehe, it's just for drying my mane, you know.”
“Yeaah, I get that, Twi,” Rainbow deadpanned.
“Wow, aren't you a sight for sore eyes..! I- I mean, my eyes are sore because I couldn't sleep last night because of nightmaresandstuffand-” Twilight quickly stopped herself before it was too late. “Um, don't you have work today?”
“Nope, Thunderlane is in charge... which explains the crappy weather.”
Twilight laughed a bit too much at that comment, especially considering how she didn't even understand the reference. “Hahahaaa! So, what brings you to the castle, Rainbow?”
“Oh, nothing special, I just came by to pick up the Daring Do book I think I left here a few days ago.”
Nothing special. Twilight's heart sank somewhat. “Ah, yes, the Daring Dash book. I think it's right over there on that chaise lounge.”
“Oh, thanks, Twi- ...Daring what?”
“Hm?”
“N- never mind. I'll just grab it and get going, I have things to do.”
Rainbow walked over to one of the sofa-things and grabbed the book from the seat. Then, there was a moment of hesitation.
“Hey, Twilight? There was something I wanted to ask.”
Twilight noticed a nervousness in Rainbow's voice that hopefully meant something special. “Yes, Rainbow?” she answered in the softest tone she could muster.
“The letter... d- did you write it?”
Twilight thought carefully about what to say. “No, I didn't...” She looked down at the ground. I have to be honest. “B- but now I kind of wish that-”
SLAM!
Again, disruption from an opening door. Both Rainbow and Twilight turned their heads toward the sound of intrusion. A pink unicorn mare stood in the door opening. Twilight was deeply annoyed. She couldn't have come at a worse time.
“Amethyst Star?! Haven't you heard of knocking? This is a private residence!”
“Uhm, is this where I'm supposed to return books now?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Return books? We haven't even started loaning books out yet! We're still in the process of collecting enough to have a presentable selection available.”
“Well, I loaned these... quite some time ago,” Amethyst said, and levitated the books out from her saddlebags.
Twilight frowned and grasped the books with her own magic. She flipped one of the books open directly to the last page and looked at the date due slip.
“Hrmf, so you borrowed these from Golden Oak?”
Amethyst gave a bashful look. “Yeeaah.”
“Must I even remark that they are way overdue?”
Amethyst suddenly jerked her head defensively. “Look, what was I supposed to do after the place blew up?!”
“You could have come here, for instance. I've had a hard time as it is indexing all the books that could be salvaged from the previous library, and it sure helps if ponies at least returned the books they borrowed there on time. I thought you were more organized, Amethyst.”
Amethyst gave Twilight a piercing glare.
Twilight didn't notice, however. “I'll give you a pass this time, considering the circumstances.”
“Wow, how noble of you. Thanks a lot, princess!” Amethyst said with a voice that reeked of contempt, before walking out the front door, slamming it shut behind her.
Twilight and Rainbow were once again alone, and this time Twilight wouldn't let the moment slip away. “So,” she began and took a deep breath to steady herself. “Rainbow, I-”
“Who was that?!”
Twilight exhaled despairingly. “Wha- her? Eh, her name is Amethyst Star. Why do you ask? Haven't you met her before?”
Rainbow's eyes were still glued to the door where Amethyst had left. “Yeah, I think I might have, but I've never really noticed her before...”
Twilight didn't know what to say to that. She had lost all her momentum at this point.
“Look, Twilight, I gotta go! See ya! Oh, and sorry about that drama yesterday, it was all pretty stupid!”
And in the blink of an eye, Rainbow had disappeared out the door, leaving a fading rainbow trail behind her. Twilight just stood there, holding the books that Amethyst had returned. Love Potions 101, True Love Through Persistence, How to Seduce the Unwilling (banned in 40 countries!).
Next time, the abandoned princess thought, next time I will NOT let her get away!
As soon as Amethyst walked out the massive front door of the castle, a chilly gust of wind rustled her mane. She shuddered slightly at the harsh weather, and started trotting briskly towards home. At least it was better than spending more time inside the castle with those two.
The weather wasn't all that nice today. Surely, Thunderlane couldn't be responsible for something as unpleasant as this... Of course, if he was, Amethyst was sure it was all perfectly necessary. The wind was probably good for the crops, or the trees, or the rocks... or something like that. As far as Amethyst was concerned, Thunderlane was the best weather pony in all of Equestria. Other ponies would go on and on about Rainbow Dash being able to clear the skies in 'ten seconds flat', but Amethyst had seen through her facade. Rainbow was just... well, a show-off! Just like her friend, the 'princess of organizing'.
Amethyst almost regurgitated her breakfast just from thinking about the damn alicorn. Really Celestia, was that transformation/ascendance necessary? Thanks, My Almighty Lard-ass. Just keep rubbing it in. Twilight had taken Amethyst's organizing career and nonchalantly trampled all over it almost as soon as she had moved to this town. Show-off!
Just like that damn Rainbow Dash was giving poor Thunderlane flak for misaligning a couple of thunderstorms, or some such nonsense. Those houses could be rebuilt, easily!
As far as Amethyst knew, Rainbow was known for both sleeping in and taking naps during work, so she shouldn't be criticizing others. But of course, she too had the princess's favor, so Rainbow Dash was Thunderlane's boss, instead of the other way around as it should have been.
Amethyst looked up at the skies by pure habit, hoping to see him somewhere. It had been some time since she had last heard from him. Thunderlane had been quite upset after Amethyst's last attempt at charming him. He had even threatened to get a restraining order against her. She could never understand how he didn't see what Amethyst saw: that they we're clearly meant for each other and should be together for eternity.
But this time, he will see! My letter must have convinced him. According to Zecora, the love potion should have started working by now...