Thursday, October 24, Ponyville, 1:38 p.m.
“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the pony mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age…”
“Twilight? Hey Twilight, you in here?”
“They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any ponies, and who came to the young world out of the sky. Those Old Ones were gone now, inside the earth and under the sea; but their dead bodies had told their secrets in dreams to the first ponies, who formed a cult which had never died…”
“Twilight? What are you doing back here? What’s that you’re reading?”
“These Great Old Ones…they were not composed altogether of flesh and blood. They had shape, but that shape was not made of matter. When the stars were right, They could plunge from world to world through the sky; but when the stars were wrong, they could not live…”
“Twilight? Hellllloooo, Equestria to Twilight! Come in, Twilight!”
“That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die…”
“Oh for the love of…TWILIGHT!”
“Ah!” Twilight Sparkle yelped in surprise, involuntarily jumping backwards in fright…and in the process, falling off the small reading stool she had situated herself on, causing her to land painfully on her back on the hard wood floor of the library’s main reading area.
“Oww…” Twilight groaned with closed eyes.
“Oh, heheheh, sorry, Twilight,” said a familiar, scratchy voice sheepishly from above her.
“Unh…” Twilight moaned before opening her eyes, which immediately fell upon the blue-coated, rainbow-maned figure of Rainbow Dash, who was hovering a few feet above her, a somewhat abashed look on her face, although that look seemed to be struggling to maintain itself in its effort to not burst out into laughter.
“Rainbow Dash, what’s the big idea?! You nearly gave me a heart attack there!” Twilight shouted indignantly up at her friend.
“Ngh…ggh…s-sorry, Twilight…so…s-so…” In an effort to try keeping her laughter under control, Rainbow tried sticking a hoof in her mouth, but it was a futile effort. With eyes watering and cheeks puffed out comically as they struggled to hold in her laughter, Rainbow’s façade finally broke, and she burst into a fit of uproarish, uncontrollable laughter.
Twilight gave the hysterical pegasus a flat look from her position on her back. “Yeah, uh-huh, very funny, Rainbow, ha ha ha…” Twilight said sarcastically, fighting the urge to cast a Color Changer hex on Rainbow that would make her coat and mane decidedly less rainbow-y, which, to a mare as uniquely known for her appearance as Rainbow Dash, would certainly cause a great deal of grief for the pegasus, and that was probably putting it lightly. But seeing as she was friends with Rainbow, she most certainly couldn’t do something like that, now, could she?
Aw, come on, it’s not like she isn’t asking for it, laughing at you like that, and besides, it’ll only last for a day! It’ll teach her to not so callously make fun of unicorns in the future! an unscrupulous part of her mind seemed to whisper to her unconsciously.
Quiet, you, she thought back, banishing her dark thoughts to whatever recesses of her mind they had crawled out of.
“Hey, Twilight, everything all right in here?” came the voice of Spike as he poked his head into the atrium, his eyes immediately coming to rest on Twilight, who was now in the process of getting back to her hooves. “Are you okay, Twilight? I thought I heard something fall from the room over,” he asked worriedly.
Twilight sighed as she regained her footing. “It’s okay, Spike, I’m okay,” she said reassuringly. Despite somepony’s best efforts to ensure otherwise… she grumbled mentally to herself, throwing a brief half-lidded look to the pegasus over her shoulder, whose laughter had now winded down to occasional snorts and giggles. “Rainbow here just startled me a bit, that’s all.”
“…Okay, if you say so,” the baby dragon replied after a moment, casting brief glances between the two before leaving the room, rolling his eyes as he did so; he knew of Dash’s penchant for pranking firsthoof, after all. Thinking back on that incident and all the confusion and trouble it caused for Princess Celestia, and in turn, for him, Spike couldn’t help but think that he’d like to see Rainbow try a prank like that on a full-grown dragon and see where that got her.
“So, Rainbow, might I ask as to why you’ve decided to visit? Or did you just come here with the express purpose of scaring the living Tartarus out of me?” Twilight asked irritably, turning around to face Rainbow.
“Oh, come on, Twi, lighten up, will ya?” Rainbow jovially retorted as she flew over and landed beside Twilight, throwing a friendly hoof around Twilight’s shoulders. “I swear, you take things way too seriously sometimes, you know? Is that like a universal trait for eggheads or something?” she asked with a chuckle.
Twilight responded by narrowing her eyes dangerously at Dash, as the urge to cast the Color Changer hex returned stronger than ever.
Not noticing-or just plain disregarding-the dangerous steely glint in Twilight’s eyes proper, Rainbow continued on, saying, “See? That’s what I mean! You gotta loosen up, Twilight. Being serious all the time can’t be good for ya, you know what I mean?
Twilight merely continued her glare.
Dash sighed, finally giving in. “Alright, alright, fine. Sorry for scaring you, Twilight,” she mumbled in apology. “Is that better?”
Twilight didn’t much care for Rainbow’s mumbled apology, but realistically, it was the best she could hope to get out of the pegasus. It was just Rainbow Dash’s way; in truth, Twilight was sure that Rainbow was truly being as sincere as possible in her apology.
Relenting her hard look finally, Twilight said, “Yes. Much better. Apology accepted, Rainbow. Although next time, try finding a less startling way to get my attention, okay?” she said with a small smile.
Rainbow smiled. “Yeah, well, hey, it is October. Nightmare Night’s coming up pretty soon, and the way I figure it, everypony’s entitled to one good scare, am I right?” she said, shrugging good-naturedly.
Knowing you, Rainbow Dash, I wouldn’t settle on just one in your case. More like a hundred, Twilight thought amusedly.
“Besides,” Rainbow Dash continued, “it wasn’t like I hadn’t already tried to get your attention. I must’ve called your name like ten times; you just couldn’t hear me! You were too busy ogling that book over there!” she explained, pointing a hoof towards the book in question, still lying open on the reading desk.
“Oh, eheheheh, sorry…” Twilight apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. “I guess I must’ve just gotten too caught up in reading.”
Dash responded by rolling her eyes before flying over to the desk to curiously regard the book sitting on it. “So, what’s this book you’re reading, anyway?” Not waiting for Twilight to answer, Rainbow hoofed the book closed to regard the title embossed on the front cover. “The Collected Tales of H.P. Hoofcraft? Heh, now that’s a weird name. Who is this guy? I’ve sure never heard of him.”
“Really, Rainbow, how many authors are you aware of, besides the author of the Daring Do series?” Twilight asked jokingly.
“Hey! I know plenty of other authors!” Dash lied indignantly, crossing her hooves in the air.
“Oh, really?” Twilight asked archly, raising an eyebrow. “Name one.”
“Er…well, um…there’s that author who, um…wrote that story about the, erm…the, uh, thing…and then there’s this, uh, this pony who goes in search of this…thing…uh, heheh, y’know, the, uh…the thing?” Rainbow offered with a weak grin.
“Yeah. Sounds like a plot from Daring Do,” Twilight said deadpan.
“Eheheheh…” Dash chuckled nervously while rubbing a hoof across the back of her head, a sheepish grin on her face.
Twilight shook her head slightly in amusement. “You know, Rainbow, there really are tons of other great stories out there that you could read in the meantime that I’m sure you would love. You don’t have to limit yourself to just one book series. I could help in that regard by giving you some suggestions for you to check out, if you’re interested. I’m certain we could find something in this library that will kindle your reading spirit!” she said amiably, gesturing to the many myriads of novels and tomes that decorated the library shelves surrounding them, her mind excited at the prospect of helping one of her best friends in selecting a book for her to read. It was a chance to talk about some of her favorite authors and books and to even possibly get Rainbow Dash interested in those authors herself! It was a bookworm’s dream!
That hope was extinguished, however, when Rainbow Dash chuckled and said, “Nah, that’s okay, Twi. I’m fine with just reading the Daring Do series for the time being. But hey, thanks for the offer, anyway,” adding the last bit in in response to seeing the slightly disappointed look pass over Twilight’s face.
Shrugging off her disappointment, Twilight smiled and said, “Oh, alright then. Maybe next time.” She then moved over to the book on the desk herself, whereupon she levitated it with her magic, and with the book hovering alongside her, moved to return it to its proper place where she had found it. As she was doing this, she remarked to Rainbow, “But still, Dash, the fact that you limit yourself to just one book series is rather silly, in my opinion. From what I’ve seen, whenever the author releases a new book in the series, you usually have it finished in two to three weeks, tops. What in Equestria do you read in the meantime when she’s busy writing the next novel in the series?”
Rainbow, who was following behind Twilight on the ground, answered casually, “Eh, I usually just re-read some of the other books in the series. Sometimes I even re-read through the entire series in the order they came out up till the latest novel. I like to call those ‘Daring Do marathons’: I challenge myself to try to get through as many of them as I can in the time it takes for the author to release the next book in the series. My current record is fourteen out of twenty-three!” she boasted, grinning cheekily.
Twilight laughed openly at the pegasus’ comment. Oh, Rainbow… she thought wryly to herself. “But still, doesn’t it get boring after a while, reading the same books over and over and over again?” she asked while raising an eyebrow.
“Nope! Not even remotely!” Rainbow Dash answered with a grin. “Whether she’s delving into some ancient Naztec ruin in search of treasure, dodging perilous traps by the skin of her teeth, running from angry hordes of tribal zebras, or dealing with villainous rival treasure hunters, Daring Do will never get old for me! And besides,” she said, waving a hoof casually, “it’s not like Daring Do’s the only thing I read.”
“Oh?” Twilight asked over her shoulder, having reached the appropriate bookshelf for the book suspended in her magic to be placed.
“Yeah, I also read the occasional magazine every now and then, especially if there’s a new Gabby Gums article in it. I also read the sports section of the Equestria Daily every now and then, to see if there’s any cool news happening in the sports world. Oh, and I also read the funny pages, too,” Rainbow Dash answered. Twilight snorted mentally.
“So, anyway, you gonna tell me who this Hoofcraft guy is you were reading about?” Rainbow Dash then asked, staring up at the book in question as Twilight slid it back into place amongst the other books.
“Oh, of course!” Twilight exclaimed brightly. “Well,” she began, “H.P. Hoofcraft is considered by many to be one of the greatest science fiction and horror writers of the past century. He was renowned for eschewing the normal conventions of horror writing by telling tales that not only focused on the tangible elements of what causes us fear, but also on the intangible elements, stuff like the various emotions of the pony psyche, insanity, alternate realities, and the unknown. He firmly believed that it was not ghosts, goblins, or demons that terrified us most, but rather the fear of the unknown, things we have yet to discover, and that are probably best left undiscovered. Topics such as necromancy, witchcraft and the occult, strange alien worlds, and ancient beings from other dimensions with the power to destroy all of reality formed the basis for a good many of his stories, and a great many of today’s writers cite him as a tremendous influence.”
Rainbow gave Twilight a blank stare. “Oooookay…so he’s a…very good horror writer, then?” she asked slowly.
“…Yes, to put it so bluntly, yes, he was,” Twilight said deadpan with a half-lidded expression.
“Then why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” Rainbow scoffed. Twilight facehoofed, deciding not to mention that she had, in fact, mentioned that right off the bat.
“So…reading scary stories, huh? Trying to get into the Nightmare Night spirit yourself then, eh, Twilight?” Dash asked with a knowing grin, waggling her eyebrows.
“Well, I was trying to come up with ideas as to who I’m going to dress up as, so I decided to peruse some of the books in here in an attempt to get some inspiration,” Twilight explained.
“Really? Got any ideas so far?” Dash inquired curiously.
“Not really, no,” Twilight said with a frown. “But I’m sure I’ll think of something eventually,” she said confidently.
“Well, hopefully it’ll be better than what you went as last year,” Dash said jokingly.
“Hey!” Twilight said indignantly. “Dr. Feinstein was one of the most brilliant mathematicians and physicians of his age! His work on proving the theo-”
“Yeah, yeah, so in short, he was an egghead,” Dash interrupted, not interested in hearing Twilight go into another long-winded spiel. “All I know is that the guy apparently had a really weird manestyle, going by that freaky wig you were wearing last year,” she laughed.
“And I suppose you already know who you’ll be going as?” Twilight asked flatly, raising an eyebrow, ignoring Rainbow’s ribbing.
“Yep!” Dash said with a flashy grin. “I’m gonna be dressing up as the lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Tartarus!”
“Huh, can’t say I’ve ever heard of them,” said Twilight. Then again, she didn’t really count herself as a music-listening pony, and certainly not to the type of music Dash liked to listen to. Twilight cringed mentally as she remembered the time she had foolishly let her pegasus friend convince her to listen to a sample of her music off one of her records…
-
Twilight gazed in wonderment and bewilderment at the odd setup Rainbow had set down in the middle of the library atrium. At one end of the setup a rather odd vinyl record player lay on the floor. There were a bunch of weird knobs attached to it that Twilight had never seen before on a record player, and the rather large and long wire that ran out from behind it was certainly a curiosity. The wire ran over to a rather tall and powerful-looking black speaker stack, which Rainbow Dash was busy plugging the other end of the wire into.
“So where on Equestria did you get this crazy setup, Rainbow?” Twilight queried, her eyes running up and down the impressive speaker stack.
From the other side of the speaker, Twilight heard Rainbow say, “Eh, the record player I got from a buddy in mine in Cloudsdale who own a record shop. He did the modifications to it himself; he’s a wiz at coming up with all sorts of cool features to add to stuff that makes them infinitely more awesome. He says that someday he’s gonna make a killing selling all of his modified stuff to big music equipment companies for them to market to everypony in Equestria, and let me tell ya, I have no doubt in my mind that he will; he’s made some incredibly awesome stuff besides that record player there. Now, let’s see…ah, here we go!” A faint buzz of feedback came from the speakers as Rainbow plugged the wire into it. Coming around from behind the speaker, she continued, “This awesome speaker set, however,” she began, laying a hoof reverently on the side of the tall black box, “was given to me by Vinyl Scratch here in Ponyville.”
“The locally-renowned nightclub performer?” Twilight asked in surprise.
“Yep, the very same,” Dash answered with a grin. “I’ve known her for a while, and even though she has an affinity for dance music, she also shares interest in a lot of the bands I like, and loves to talk them over with me, so I guess you could say me and her are music buddies, heheh. So anyway, one day she comes up to me with a proposal. She said that she was getting rid of some of her older equipment, as she was gonna be getting some newer stuff to replace it soon. She knew that I had had my eye on her speaker set for a while; I didn’t have the bits to buy a good one myself, you see, and I’d wanted one real bad for a while. She told me that she’d be willing to let me take one of her old speakers off her hoofs, in exchange for me doing her a favor in return. So naturally, I jumped at the offer.”
“And what was the favor she wanted?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, she wanted me to help her with this big outdoors music festival she was taking part in a little ways out of Manehattan. She wanted something spectacular to highlight her set, something that would put her performance above the rest of the bands performing and truly make hers stand out. So she asked me if I would be able to perform a Sonic Rainboom above the stage during the climax of her final song. She knew that that would certainly make her performance stand out and fire the crowd up, without a doubt,” Dash explained with a prideful grin on her features.
“Wow, a Sonic Rainboom; that certainly would be quite the showstopper, I’ll admit.” Twilight remarked with a smile. “Although, she must’ve known how difficult those are to perform, especially seeing as you’re the only pegasi who’s been able to perform one in, well, centuries, at the very least, and I can’t imagine they’re a trot in the park to pull off, regardless, especially in the time frame that Vinyl wanted it to happen in. The odds of you pulling off a Sonic Rainboom at the precise climax of her song are a thousand to one, at least,” she continued with a frown.
“Yeah, I told her as much myself, but she just waved it off, saying that as long as it happened sometime during her final song, that it would be good enough, and that even if I failed to perform one, she would be thankful that I tried my best, and that she would still give me her speaker regardless,” said Dash.
“Wow, that’s very kind and generous of her to do that,” Twilight said amazedly.
“Yeah, I know, right? Not that she was in any danger of that happening; I was confident I would be able to pull one off for her. She had nothing to worry about there.” Dash said with a cocky smile.
“So, did everything work out, then?” asked Twilight.
“Heh, what do you think?” Dash asked while indicating the speaker stack. “Of course it worked out, and judging by Vinyl’s gushing to me afterwards, it went off at the exact time she wanted, and everypony went absolutely nuts. Said the cheer sent up by the crowd was loud enough to shake the stage, and that I’d more than earned the speaker. Used it for whenever I’m in the mood for listening to music since, and let me tell ya, I cannot understate how totally awesome this thing is at blasting out the sounds; Vinyl sure knows her sound systems, I’ll give her that.”
“I imagine it must’ve been difficult to lug that thing all the way down here from your house though. It looks awfully heavy,” Twilight remarked dubiously, eyes running up and down the box’s rather sizable length.
“Eh, don’t worry, it’s no biggie,” Dash said while waving a hoof dismissively. “It’s not that far a trip from here to my house, and on the off hoof that I can’t do it by myself, I’ll just ask one of the other pegasi around town to help me carry it back.”
“Oookay, if you say so,” said Twilight, dearly hoping that Rainbow wouldn’t strain herself too much by trying to carry the heavy-looking speaker set back to her house all by herself. “So, now that this is all set up, what was this music that you wanted to show me?” she asked.
“Only the most awesomely spectacularly epic band in all of Equestria, that’s what!” Dash said with a wide grin as she zoomed over to her saddlebags, which she had dropped near the entrance to the library atrium, pulled something out of them, and then flew back over to Twilight, where she presented the object, a square, thin piece of cardboard with an image of what appeared to be a griffon talon curled into a fist smashing down onto…a skull?! Yes, it was most definitely a skull, although (thankfully) Twilight couldn’t tell what type of animal the skull belonged to, mainly due to the fact that the griffon’s fist had apparently come down with so much power as to shatter the entire upper portion of the skull into dozens of tiny fragments which could be seen exploding outward from the point of the fist’s impact. Lovely.
“Griffallica?” Twilight read aloud, eyeing the band logo printed in sharp, white angular letters at the top of the image. “Huh. Can’t say I’ve heard of them.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t heard of them either until I met Gilda back during my days at Cloudsdale Academy. She was a big fan of them herself; I remember she had a signed poster of their guitar player, Gryph Diamondwing, hanging in the dorm we shared together. Heh, you would not believe how protective she was of that poster, too…” Suddenly a sad, wistful look passed over the pegasus’ features as she continued, “Heh, you know, come to think of it, if it wasn’t for her, I probably would’ve never gotten into metal music in the first place…I’ll always be thankful to her for that…”
Twilight frowned with concern at her friend’s words; ever since the argument she and Gilda had had at the surprise party she and Pinkie had thrown to welcome Gilda to Ponyville, no one had seen hide nor feather of the griffin in Ponyville again. While Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy had hardly shed any tears over the incorrigible griffin’s departure (“She was a real Grump Grumpy McGrumperton, and it’s really, really, really hard to try and be friends with a Grump Grumpy McGrumperton, even for somepony like me! And believe me, I tried!” Pinkie had remarked afterwards.), it was clear that the fallout of friendship between her and Dash had taken its toll on the rainbow-maned pegasus. For the remainder of the week after the party, Dash had become oddly withdrawn and quiet, a stark contrast to her usual boisterous and outspoken attitude. There were some periods in which Twilight never saw her around town at all; Fluttershy had later told Twilight that Dash had spent a great deal of time cooped up alone in her house in the skies above Ponyville, and that when she had gone there herself to see if Dash was alright, she had been turned away with a gruff, “I just need to be alone for a bit right now, all right?” from Dash, although Fluttershy had also said that Dash appreciated that she had come to check up on her. While Dash had eventually managed to break out of her funk (thanks in no small part to the combined efforts of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the former offering kind words and a confiding, solacing presence, and the latter by just being Pinkie Pie.), it was exceptionally clear to Twilight as to just what had caused her friend to sink into such a depressed state. To have such an impact on Dash, she and Gilda must have grown exceptionally close as friends indeed during the time they had known each other back in flight school. To have a friendship of that caliber so suddenly go up in flames…Twilight couldn’t imagine how terrible an experience that must’ve been for Dash to go through, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Gilda underwent the same torment at losing her friend as Dash did.
But before Twilight say any comforting words, the sad, wistful look on Dash’s face abruptly shifted back to her original demeanor, her thoughts about the griffin no doubt banished back to the dark portion of her mind she used to sequester her painful memories from herself. “Anyway, enough talk; whaddya say we slap this bad colt on already?”
Without further ado, Rainbow quickly flew over to the record player on the ground, slipped the round black vinyl disc from its case, and carefully laid it upon the turntable. She fiddled with one of the knobs on the bottom of the player before grabbing the needle apparatus and lining it into position over the record on the turntable, slowly bringing it down towards the vinyl, a wide, eager, anticipatory grin spread across her features.
“Okay, but not too lo-“ Twilight began to say, but that was as far as she got before the needle hit the record, and she was immediately bombarded by a massive wave of sound consisting of extremely fast, crunchy, distorted, and above all, insanely loud guitars, harsh, snarling, venomous vocals, and pounding drum patterns coupled with punishing double bass blast beats which, roaring out of the massive speaker set, was enough to actually blow Twilight off her hooves entirely, the purple unicorn’s scream drowned out as she flew backwards to collide with a bookshelf in the adjacent entrance area of the library: “OOOOOOUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDD-oof!”
Her impact caused many of the books in the shelves to fall out, unfortunately, right on top of Twilight on the floor, causing her to be buried in a considerable pile of books. After a moment, Twilight’s head burst out of the pile, a dizzy and shellshocked look on her features, although that look quickly dissipated as brought her hooves to shield her ears from the continued audial assault emanating from the speaker system. And right in the middle of this chaotic assault on the eardrums hovered Rainbow Dash, obliviously banging her head like a madpony, her front hooves juxtaposed in an air guitar position, and a look of savage musical ecstasy etched on her features…
-
Ugh, it seemed like days before my hearing returned to normal after that. I still don’t know how Rainbow’s ears manage to take it. I’m just glad Spike was out of the library that day helping Rarity… Twilight regarded to herself as the memory faded. Bringing her attention back to the conversation, Twilight asked, “Anyway, all talk of Nightmare Night costumes aside, why exactly are you here, Rainbow?”
Dash raised her eyebrows. “Seriously, Twi? Don’t tell me you forgot about the agreement.”
“Huh? What agreement?” Twilight asked confusedly.
Dash facehoofed. “The agreement to help Applejack, remember? She needs help in loading the apples and cider she’s gonna be taking over to Appleloosa with Big Macintosh, and me and you agreed to help her out.” she explained.
Twilight’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh my gosh, you’re right, Rainbow! I did agree to help out with that, didn’t I? I totally forgot about it! Ohh, how could I have let something as important as that slip my mind?” she berated herself as she raised a hoof to her forehead.
“Heh, it was only like two days ago that we agreed to that, Twi. Where’ve you been?” Rainbow snarked playfully, grinning cheekily at Twilight.
“Ehehehe…sorry...” Twilight said sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. How could this have happened? I’m usually good to remember stuff like this! Ohh, Rainbow must be so annoyed at me right now…
As if sensing her thoughts, Rainbow smiled good-naturedly and said, “Ahh, don’t sweat it, Twilight, it’s no biggie. I’m just joshing ya. I kinda figured you might forget about it, so that’s why I came here first. Guess it’s a good thing I did, huh?”
Twilight chuckled lightly. “Yeah, no doubt about that. Thanks, Rainbow. I guess I owe you one.”
Rainbow waved a hoof at Twilight. “Ahh, no ya don’t. Forget about it, Twi; I’m just helpin’ ya out. After all, what are friends for?” she said kindly.
“Regardless, thanks again, Rainbow. You really are a true friend,” Twilight said with a grateful smile.
Rainbow blushed slightly as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Heh, it was nothing, really…” Quickly regaining her composure, Dash straightened her posture and said with a smile, “Anyway, enough of the mushy-gushy stuff; you ready to go or what?”
Twilight smiled back and said, “Yes, of course. I’d hate to keep Applejack waiting any longer. Let’s get going!”
“Okay, then! We’re going to be meeting A.J. in the market square and then heading to Sweet Apple Acres from there, just so you know. She should be close to closing up her stall for the day.” Dash said as they both headed into the main atrium and towards the front door.
“Gotcha,” Twilight said in the affirmative. She then turned towards Spike, who was in the process of shelving returned books to their respective places, and said, “Hey, Spike, me and Rainbow are heading out for a bit. We’re going to go help Applejack in packing some apples and cider for a delivery trip she’ll be making to Appleloosa. Keep an eye on the library, okay?”
“You got it, Twi. Say hi to Applejack for me, okay?” said the baby dragon.
“I will,” Twilight replied, smiling, before turning to continue walking towards the door, by which Rainbow Dash was waiting.
“Oh, but hey, Twilight,” Spike called out to Twilight as she reached the door and opened it with her magic, letting in the cool October breeze from outside. “Just make sure you come back by nightfall tonight, okay? They’re gonna be starting that week-long rain stretch come this evening, and it’s gonna start off with a big doozy of a thunderstorm that’ll last from nightfall until next morning, from what I hear.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to be back by then,” Twilight said reassuringly. “I’ll see you later, Spike.”
“Catch ya later, Spikeanator!” Rainbow added on.
“See you, girls!” Spike called out after them as the two friends walked out, Twilight shutting the door behind them.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
616 users online
1,061,629 hits today, 2,151,698 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
My only gripe would be some parenthesis in the narrative.
Other than that, very nicely done. I quite enjoy a little bit of Dark when it's written so well.
3555712
Huh, could you possibly point out what you mean about that, so I can see for myself?
Thanks! Glad you like it so far.
Although, just wait til nightfall come Chapter 3; that's when I really plan to ratchet up the darkness level.
3555756
Right there! Eeeevil
Hey...this looks...familiar...
Didn't I edit this?
3555799
Well, I wrote that to imply that Dash either just didn't notice the look Twilight was shooting her, or she did notice and just decided to continue ribbing Twilight for fun. She strikes me as being one who enjoys a good ribbing at her friend's expenses, but of course, she'll let up and apologize once she gets the impression that they want her to knock it off.
But, I can see how that statement you pointed out can seem a bit contradictory. Hope I was able to clear up why I worded it so. I appreciate you for pointing it out.
3555885
Hey, Ri2! Yep, this is indeed the chapter I had you look over way back when. Glad you noticed me posting it!
3555917 Congratulations on finally putting it up.
3555904
I get that, but you use a dash to show that, not parenthesizes.
Not noticing (or just plain disregarding) the dangerous steely glint in Twilight’s eyes proper, Rainbow continued on
vs.
Not noticing—or just plain disregarding—the dangerous steely glint in Twilight’s eyes proper, Rainbow continued on
3555957
Hmm, I do suppose you have a good point there. It does look better that way. Okay, I made the change there from parentheses to dashes. Thanks, good sir!
3556008
images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130630180448/aceattorney/images/9/96/AAI_Miles_Edgeworth_Bowing.gif
I have to ask. Is this related to the game Heavy Rain in any way?
3565609
Yeah, figured someone would notice and assume that before long. Was kinda expecting it, heh.
But to answer your question, no, my story is not going to be a retelling of Heavy Rain with ponies. Believe me, I have something much darker planned than a regular old serial killer for this story.
But that's not to say that there isn't some measure of truth to your claim; I did adapt one major aspect from that game into my story, namely, the heavy rainfall that seems to be a constant presence throughout the game. It's one of the big reasons why I loved that game so much; the rain seemed to ratchet up the feeling of depressing gloominess and the overall sense of noir-ness of the unnamed city the game takes place in. It reminded me so much of one of my favorite thriller/mystery movies of all time, Se7en, and the near-constant rainfall that blanketed the city as the two protagonists worked to catch the Seven Sins Killer. So I decided to take that one aspect that I loved so much from those two sources and adapt it into my own mystery.
And as for the title, well, I guess I'll just admit that I really couldn't think of a better one, and the fact that 'Heavy Rain' sounds like such an awesome title by itself, I just couldn't resist naming my own story that.