The Wrong Hoof

by ChainGunDragon

Solstice

Rainbow Dash took off into the sky, looking around in every direction, mountain to mountain, horizon to horizon.

“Twilight are you sure it was tonight?” The alicorn didn’t bother looking up at her friend, too busy calibrating her telescope.

“Yes, the winter solstice is tonight, stop asking.” Rainbow Dash gently fluttered back down to earth, between AppleJack and Fluttershy, and started pouring herself another glass of punch.

“Then why is nothing happening? We’ve been waiting for hours.”

“Rainbow, do you even know what a winter solstice is?” AppleJack asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Of course I do, it’s… do you know what it is?” Dash asked back, accusingly. Twilight answered first, pulling herself away from her instruments to take a seat on the edge of the picnic blanket.

“The winter solstice is the longest night of the year. It’s already happening.” Pinkie Pie gasped, immediately sparking an idea.

“The longest night of the year!? We should be throwing a party!”

“Pinkie, dear,” Rarity said, setting down her cup of tea with her magic as the blue glow of her horn faded away. “We’re already enjoying a delightful picnic, we don’t need a party. What matters is that all of us are having fun together.”

“But we could be having even more fun if we had a cake! Don’t worry, you guys, I can save this. It’s never too late to bake a cake.” As the energetic mare turned around and got ready to start bouncing away, AppleJack bit on her tail, holding her back.

“Pinkie, we already have a cake.”

“Yeah, but I mean a big cake.” Twilight stared at the behemoth of a desert sitting in the middle of the picnic blanket, nearly two times as tall as her.

“I think we’ll be fine.” Pinkie stopped bouncing and sat back down, taking a cupcake.

“If you change your mind just say the word.” She started devouring the cupcake as Twilight took a seat next to Fluttershy who was quietly sipping her own cup of tea.

“Say, where is Spike?” Rarity asked, turning her attention towards Twilight. “I brought a nice basket of leftover gems for him to fetch.”

“He’s not a dog, Rarity,” AppleJack said bluntly.

“I never said he was.”

“No, you just treat him like one.”

“Well excuse me for wanting to give Spike a treat for all of his hard work.”

“He’ll be along shortly,” Twilight answered, smiling to try to keep them from arguing. “He just had to finish a few chores around the library.”

“So if this is a winter solstice, does that mean there’s a summer solstice? And a spring solstice too?” Rainbow Dash asked, having just finished her glass of punch.

“Since when are you interested in learning?” AppleJack asked, raising another eyebrow.

“Since always,” she retorted, getting tired of AppleJack insinuating that she was less than intelligent.

“There’s only a winter solstice and a summer solstice,” Twilight answered, smiling at Fluttershy for a moment before turning her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “The winter solstice is the longest night of the year, while the summer solstice is the longest day of the year. Alternatively, there are the two equinoxes throughout the year. They’re sort of like the opposite to a solstice, when both day and night are the closest to being of equal length.” Rainbow Dash nodded her head, pretending she understood a single word of it. As Fluttershy smiled back at Twilight, she saw past her and noticed a particular green-spined dragon running up the hill toward them.

“Uhmm, Twilight?”

“Yes?” Twilight replied, looking back at Fluttershy before following her gaze to find what she was looking at. “Oh, hey Spike.” The dragon finally reached Twilight, panting heavily as he held out a scroll in front of her. She took the scroll and started reading through it quickly while Pinkie slyly pushed a cupcake toward the dragon. “Thank you Spike. You deserve a rest. Rarity brought a few gems for you for your hard work if you’d like to ask her for one,” She said while staring at the scroll, hesitant to lose her focus. Rarity revealed a basket full of colorful gems and took a purple stone in her hoof, holding it high into the air, ready to throw it before she caught the stern look in AppleJack’s eye and instantly remembered what they had just talked about. She smiled warmly at Spike and brought the gem down, holding it out in front of him. Spike took the amethyst gladly but was too fixated on Rarity’s smile to eat it.

“What does it say?” Fluttershy asked quietly as Twilight put the scroll away.

“The others are ready,” Twilight whispered back. “From the look of things they’ve put quite a bit of effort into planning for all sorts of possible mistakes. We should probably get going.”

“What are you two talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying over the picnic blanket to hover behind them, uninterested in watching Spike obsess over rarity yet again.

“Me and Fluttershy need to get going,” Twilight answered as she stood up, waiting for her yellow pegasi friend. “My brother needs my help finding a few royal guards who haven’t reported in. He’s too busy managing the guards who did show up to look for them himself and I guess the others around Cantlerlot are too busy with their duties. I thought it would be easier if I asked Fluttershy to help me look for them.”

“Wouldn’t it be even easier if we all helped?” The blue pegasus asked as she gently set herself down onto the grass.

“I just didn’t want to bother you all. I mean it’s probably going to be a long night. I wouldn’t want you to lose sleep over it.”

“Twilight, we’re your friends, we’ve always got your back.”

“Dash is right,” AppleJack said, standing up from the picnic blanket as well. “If your brother is worried enough to send that letter, I see no good reason we shouldn’t all help out.”

“Same here,” Rarity added, standing up as well. “It probably wouldn’t be such long night after all if we all played our part.”

“The party continues!” Pinkie shouted as she immediately got up and started bouncing off, leaving the picnic behind.

“Wrong way Pinkie,” Twilight called out to her as Fluttershy stood up beside them as well.

“I knew that.” Pinkie instantaneously turned around, bouncing back toward them as Twilight led the way.

“You can go home Spike, you’ve earned a good night’s rest.” Fluttershy said as she passed the baby dragon, following Twilight and the others.

“It’s quite late already,” Rarity pointed out. “Are the trains to Canterlot even going to be running?”

“Probably not,” Twilight answered. “We may need to take a detour. I hope you don’t mind a bit of extra walking.”

“Of course not,” AppleJack replied as Rarity tried to put on a fake smile. She clearly wasn’t thrilled by the idea.

“Walking’s never been a problem for me,” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered in the air above them. Pinkie Pie just continued bouncing along happily, oblivious to the discussion going on around her. As Fluttershy caught up to Twilight, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but look down at the two, seeing Fluttershy nuzzle Twilight’s forehead tenderly. The blue pegasus quietly floated down next to them as a gentle blush appeared across Twilight’s face.

“Is it just me or do you two seem a little more affectionate than normal?” Dash asked in a soft tone, trying to keep it between the three of them for the sake of their privacy. Neither of them knew how to respond and the rainbow-maned mare took that as a clearer answer than any yes or no. “Don’t get me wrong, I mean I guess you two do kinda look cute together. And I personally don’t think there’s nothing wrong with two mares being… close. I’d just keep it down a little in public. I don’t know how the others might react to it.” As the yellow pegasus looked away in embarrassment, Twilight finally answered Rainbow Dash.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fluttershy’s just being nice. She’s like this around her critter friends all the time.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, Twilight. I’ve seen ponies in love before and you two have been acting like a couple all night. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret. Like I said, you look kinda cute together.” Hearing that, the purple mare looked back at Fluttershy. As much as Twilight was sure it would disappoint Vano, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Maybe they did look cute together.

Comments

[Gdenofa]

I don't know what to make of this chapter. It was cute but seems like an out of place filler to me. Didn't twilight just escape jail and she's hanging with her friends? You think she'd be more on guard or tense. Idk...

[ChainGunDragon]

4381233 ... I really don't wanna spoil anything, but... I think there's a detail or two you might be missing... oh I really wanna tell you, but I can't spoil it...

Ok so I admit the chapter felt kinda like a filler, but I wouldn't call it out of place just yet... I took a slightly different approach for this chapter because for the whole story, you're following over Twilight Sparkle's shoulder and trying to figure out things along side her, but this chapter was written to specifically to mess with the reader even though Twilight knows whats up... I tried to leave a couple of subtle hints here and there at what's really happening but I guess I might have been a little too subtle

It should make more sense in the next chapter, but until then... I'm sorry if you found it disappointing

[ShadowsInTheDark]

I see where you're going with this After what happened last time I can tell what going to happen next.

But I won't tell

[ChainGunDragon]

4382499 I see you are wise to my attempts at deception. As I wear my top hat and my monocle, let us exchange happy pinkie grinny faces

[Gdenofa]

4382325

Oops sorry... I reread the chapter and I think I know where you are going with this. I must have read this too fast last night. Pretty clever actually!

[ShadowsInTheDark]

4383249 Yes good sir lets