102 - Second Night
Spike and Rainbow returned to their shared library, sore, but victorious. The prize for the first match wasn't the ten thousand they were hoping for. "Five hundred," said Dash with disgust, "We're worth more than that."
Spike held up a claw, "The average farmer wouldn't see that with a decade's work."
Rainbow gave a pfft, "I'll let AJ know. She'll be so proud." She jiggled the bag in front of Spike, flying over his head with the bag's drawstrings in her mouth, "What are we going to spend it on?"
Spike glanced up at Dash, "Right now? Nothing. My bed's calling to me. Why don't we save it until we either win the rest or get knocked out?"
Rainbow landed beside Spike and handed him the bag, "When we win, we'll get something amazing! Twilight said she could make things right?"
Spike rolled his eyes, "Good luck getting her to take a break from her reading marathon for that. I was almost afraid she'd attack me as a ghost from the way she reacted when they first offered a few days."
Rainbow snickered softly, "That was really good going, Spike. You looked that mare right in the eyes and said 'No, give me a week, and like it!' and she did. I didn't know you had it in you." She nudged him with a wing and smiled, a gesture he returned with warmth.
As they approached their inn, Spike asked, "So, how are you liking it, here in Everglow?"
Rainbow flared out her wings and gave them a few flaps, "Eh, it's a mixed bag? I miss the rush of hitting that top speed, but there's so many other things to do. The ponies around here just accept adventure as a part of life, which is both freaky and amazing. Did you see that ogre? Now don't go telling everypony, but I'm glad you were in that ring with me. I didn't want to face that thing alone."
"Do you miss being a weather pony?" asked Spike.
"Spike. Being a weather pony?" said Rainbow with a soft snort, "That's a job. My passion's speed, and excitement! I traded some of one for some of the other. So long as we get to go back when we get bored, I'm cool with this all so far. So what about you? You went from little baby dragon to huge badass machine of dragon awesomeness."
"I'm not huge..." said spike with a blush and building self-consciousness.
"Like hay you're not!" objected Rainbow, "You're taller than I am now! Everglow's been nice to you."
Spike raised a brow, "So nice it's tried to kill me several times so far."
They entered the inn and moved past Drowsy, who was napping at the front desk. They pushed open the door to find Soft Mane tucking Twilight into bed with some resistance on Twilight's part.
Twilight whined, "I still have more reading to do! I was right in the middle of copying that spell!"
Soft Mane gently patted her furry neck, "The spell will be there tomorrow. You're tired and you need some sleep." Her soft petting did seem to be calming Twilight, whose struggles became weaker by the moment. Soon her eyes settled closed and Twilight fell to proper slumber.
Soft turned away to spot Spike and Rainbow trying to sneak to their own beds. She put a hand on her hip and moved towards them, "Where are you two sneaking back from? What's with all the bruises? Spike, why are you limping?"
Spike looked like a deer in headlights, but Rainbow was quick to throw out her poor lie, "We were just roughhousing around, in the air. Spike crashed. Ya know?"
Soft shook her head with clear doubt as she stepped up to Spike. "Since you didn't lie to me yet, you get first treatment." Her hands shone with the pink light of her god as she started tending to the soreness in his leg, which faded to a faint stinging under the soft words of healing.
"My turn?" asked Rainbow, looking hopeful.
"All out," said Soft Mane. She drew out a small wooden set of hearts that looked much like the ones on the armor she wasn't currently wearing. She held it towards Rainbow.
"What?" asked Rainbow just before pink energy washed out from Soft Mane. It made her injuries tingle softly and the pain lessened slightly, "Aw yeah, that's the stuff. More please."
"No," said Soft bluntly, "Not until you tell me where you really were."
Rainbow's feathered bristled, "What?! C'mon! That's not fair. Friends don't keep friends in pain." She nudged Soft with a wing, "C'mon!"
Soft crossed her arms, "If you wake up Twilight, I'm definitely not doing it."
Rainbow screamed with her muzzle shut, a long muffled noise as she sank to the ground. Spike gently pat Soft on the shoulder, "I'll tell, so please heal Rainbow. She's had a rough enough day."
Soft smiled at Spike, "I knew I could trust in you, Spike." She held up her holy symbol and washed both in waves of the healing pink force. Her skill still wasn't enough to get all the aches away, but it was far better than without.
Rainbow rose back to her hooves, stretching her more compliant muscles, "That's better. Now, I'm hitting the hay." She trotted over to the bunk she shared with AJ, flying up to the top bunk and tucking herself in.
Spike rolled his eyes, "She means 'thank you.'" He smiled then at Soft, "Promise not to be mad?"
Soft raised a brow, "No."
Spike's expression fell, "Aw man. Fine. We went to a fighting event. We fought this huge ogre and won and they gave us five hundred coin."
Soft punched him in the chest. It wasn't very hard, but it startled him. "Spike! How could you go do something that dangerous and not bring me along to help? I'm not a helpless little girl."
Spike raised a finger, "You're at least two of those things." Soft narrowed her eyes at him and he quickly added, "And I love those things? Would... you like to come with us tomorrow night? We want to get the grand prize. Ten thousand gold bits!"
Soft let out a sigh, "Fine. I doubt I could convince Rainbow Dash to stop, and she's going to drag you with her. I may as well be there to make sure you don't get yourselves killed. Just don't expect me to fight with you." She crossed her arms, "Now let's get to bed."
The next day, with Twilight, Applejack, and Lex safely at the library, the other half of the party snuck off in the evening to get to the fighting ring. The ogre was still serving as door guard. On seeing Rainbow and Spike, he grunted and slapped his chest before waving them downwards. "Good fight," he said in his deep voice.
They moved past him as Rainbow extended a wing up towards him, "Yeah, good fight big guy. You were pretty awesome." The wing was met with a meaty fist and the ogre smiled.
As they descended the stairs Rainbow spoke to her friends, "It's important in competitive circles to be a good winner."
Spike raised a brow, "Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow scrunched up her snout, "Hey! I can be a good winner!"
The elf looked them over and directed his quill at Soft Mane, "Is she fighting with you? We don't do trios. Besides, you're already at the second tier."
Soft Mane shook her head, "I'm here to heal them."
The elf gave a soft 'huh', "Well, alright, just no healing in the middle of the fight. One cure spell and they're both disqualified. You can administer first aid after they finished winning or losing."
They made their way to the ring. The rowdy crowd recognized Spike and Dash from the night before and instead of reluctantly getting out of the way, they were greeted with hearty back and shoulder slaps.
"Knock em dead!"
"You're going straight to the top."
"They're going to get creamed tonight."
"Give the bastard a black eye for me."
They soon arrived at the front of the crowd, watching as a robed pony did battle with a dwarf. Arcane might washed over the battlefield in controlled blasts of lightning and fire, but the dwarf took a much more direct approach with axe and frenzied battle cry. The lone wizard had to be rescued from the berserking dwarf when he went down. It was a short, but brutal, display.
Soft Mane winced at the conclusion of the fight, "Guys? Really? This is pretty awful."
Rainbow waved a wing at Soft Mane, "Just sit back and watch us kick some flank. That ten thousand's as good as ours!" She nudged Spike, "You coulda taken on that short human, right?"
"Dwarf," corrected Spike.
"Dwarf, midget, short. They all mean the same thing," scoffed Rainbow, "Doesn't change that he's not as awesome as we are."
Applejack stood with an expression of concentration intermixed with a child-like joy. Floating in front of her was a book Twilight had just finished reading, but it was not held in Twilight's magic. It was held in Applejack's magic. She made it float slowly to the left, then slowly to the right, barely holding in her giggles as she did so. "Look ma, no horn!" she said to no one in particular before she turned to face Twilight, the book slowly drifting back in front of herself, "Hey, Twi! How do ah make the book move faster? You're all fast when you do it, but mine moves like it's in jello or somethin'."
Twi looked up from her book and perked an ear, "The mage hand spell is just like that. That's as fast as it goes, and it doesn't lift much, but it's simple and doesn't drain the user." She smiled gently then, "Good job, Applejack. You're really getting the hang of this."
Applejack pranced in place, clip-clopping on the ground as pride swelled within her. She tried to open the book in the air, but it didn't budge. Frowning, she considered it a moment, then set the book down. She grabbed the cover with her thoughts specifically and lifted it up, making the book open. "Ah can only hold one thing at a time," she said in observation, flipping through the book slowly without touching it with mouth or hooves. "It's not as good as your horn, Twi, but it's not bad, and it's mine."
The delighted Applejack lifted the book up and set it back on its proper shelf before returning to Twilight's first spellbook, determined to add another spell to her arsenal. "This magic stuff ain't so hard once ya get yer mind around it." Just because she could, she only handled Twilight's spellbook with her magic. Each flip was a little victory that spurred her on.
Soft Mane is not so easily fooled by the terrible duo, and Applejack learns another cantrip that makes her as giddy as the first. I feel proud for her.
Pride can lead to laziness, which leads to typos! Do your part to keep the chapter typo free.
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"Badass" is one word. Language, Rainbow.
"Yeah" here.
(Rainbow's last sentence fragment there reminds me of the line "See if I sound like Oliver Twist when I ask for MORE!" from Thomas Harris' novel Hannibal. Those familiar with the scene where that's said will know why that seems just wrong when thinking of anything related to MLP.)
"Yeah," with the "h."
There's an issue with the tense in this sentence. It should be "after they have won or lost," or "after they win or lose."
5697014 Fixed! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
5697019 Rainbow Dash has long been one of my top contenders for "best pony," and it's on full display here. Her self-confidence is very attractive, as is her unabashed lust for life. I wonder about her close camaraderie with Spike, but I think that you're on the right track with keeping it to a brother-sister level. (Though that thought does remind me of how, a few chapters back, Rainbow casually mentioned something to the effect of "if she ever got a stallion," which sort of reverse-outed her - I know it's cliche, or even uncomfortably stereotypical, but Rainbow does come off as at least somewhat likely to prefer mares. I suspect that might be what AJ whispered to her that made her turn red.)
5697014
Just knowing it's from Hannibal is enough, even if I'm not familiar with the scene in question.
5697058 Yeah. I hesitated mentioning it at all, but I've found that oftentimes the best way to exorcise discomfort is to pass it around.
Being a good winner, means Dash not only doesnt have to watch her back, she has an Ogre between it and anoy one else.
Gimli is going to go ballistic when Dash calls him short human. In fact, so Ballistic I bet Dash finds out where the term Dwarf Tossing really came from.
I wonder, watching AJ move small things slowly without much effort, if it was called a cantrip because it can trip off the tounge, with little effort, or because the original showman who discovered it, used it to slowly move small rocks and such to make his pusuers to trip up.
5697079 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, the origin of the word "cantrip" (which is Scottish) is unknown, having appeared in the early 18th century, where it meant "spell" (or "trick," "fortune," etc.), just like we use it now.
Some other dictionaries presume that it's an dissimilated version of the Old English word calcatrippe ("caltrop") but that's a guess with no real evidence to support it.
5697079 Cantrip was originally a scottish word that means: a mischievous or playful act; a trick.
whose
So far, you have been using "mah" to represent "my" in AJ's accent. If she is saying, "Look, Mom, no horn!" in this quote, it should probably be "Look, Ma, no horn!"
5697235 Fixed!
5697034 Being rowdy and preferring mares are completely unrelated. The fact that Rainbow doesn't fall for every stallion she meets is most likely due to her being entirely unromantic; she is too busy with herself to be looking for someone else.
5697245 As she mentioned, any pony that wanted to be with her would have to be pretty amazing and able to keep up with her. So if you're not willing to march at her side and fight in an illegal fighting ring for fun and cash, well, she has no time for you. Pfft. Spike's not doing a bad job, but she doesn't look at him that way, and he doesn't look at her that way, and he has Soft Mane, who causes him a lot less injuries.
5697245 Hence why I characterized the sentiment as being both "cliche" and "uncomfortably stereotypical."
Insofar as Rainbow Dash being in love goes, I think that she's already in love - not with another pony, but rather with the state of her life.
Rainbow has, as I mentioned earlier, a lust for life. The way I imagine her, the rush that she feels throughout her body as she pushes herself to her limits - combined with the knowledge that she's exceeding a limit, or succeeding beyond what anypony can match - simultaneously fills her mind and body with a burst of joy that's unrivaled by anything else she's likely experienced. That's why she loves physical competition so much; the way it feels to experience the sudden pleasure of knowing that she's the best with the rush of an endorphin-high is likely a euphoric sensation that's far, far greater than anything that another pony has made her feel.
In fact, I suspect that she doesn't think that another pony can make her feel that good. Finally finding out that she's wrong (when she combines the emotional ecstasy of being head-over-hooves for somepony with the physical joy of really great sex) will likely be an awakening for her that far eclipses finding out that she enjoys reading.
To put it another way, Rainbow is very romantic, though I doubt she knows it - it's just that her definition of what constitutes romance is very different from most other ponies, the same way that her way of learning is different.
5697034
yeah well your 'best pony's' 'self confidence' is going to end her 'Lust for life' very quickly if she keeps it up
I've said it every chapter since rainbow came and i will say it every chapter till she is either dead or Learns
DON'T SPLIT THE F*@&ING PARTY!!!!
5697307 Yeah... you know that's a guideline rather than a commandment, right? (And, for that matter, that it's more typically applied to actual game-play than to a narrative.)
5697309 yeah.... but from experience with dnd
you say
i say sankofaonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Charlton-Heston-as-Moses-001.jpg
Im a mage, so i need my god dam tank to be there and do his god dam job
ok playing once, in waterdeep our paladin and dwarf bugger off to a pit fight leaving the archer, me(the mage) and the thief at the inn lo and behold what happens ambushed!!
true it could of been the DM being an ass
"Clip-clop" should be hyphenated.
5697425 Fixed and found another sneaky bugger trying to hide.
alone
5697595 Fixed!
Give them a little to keep them coming back for more. Insidious, that is.
Sense Motive is an important skill, especially when you're working with Rainbow Dash.
With their own personal first aid station, at least Dash and Spike don't have to worry about limping back to the inn anymore. It remains to be seen whether they can go all the way. I mean, no one's even told them to join the Nintendo Fun Club!
And Applejack is being almost painfully adorable. Plus, she has a handy source of low-level tricks available. With unseen servant, she'll even be able to improve her unicorn impression.
5697640 Applejack is right proud of herself, and she should be.
It remains to be seen if RD and Spike get themselves into a big heap of trouble, or end up with bragging rights and a big fat purse of coins at the end of this. AJ and Twilight would surely disapprove of their evening activities, but having the money to show for it would quell much of the chastising.
Please tell me she says that right to the Barbarian's face.
5697746 I think it is a given that he will bring up her words if they meet in the ring, right before he attempts to pluck her wings off.
5697296 That's probably a pretty good explanation of how RD views love. Poses problems for me since I have a crush on (humanized) RD... in fact, she's why I got into MLP.
I am so proud of Applejack magic is going to be really good for her.
Harts Fire
Yus, AJ. All of the yus.
This is exactly what I did in the campaign the first time a character I had gained a permanent fly speed. Fly/Mage Hand ALL DAY.
So wait, they're in the Drowsy Mare? I want to see what Drowsy's reaction was when Twilight walked in!
More missing punctuation. Maybe something's been munching on them?
6463689 Fixed!
Applejack is so cute in these chapters, but still very accurate to HER.
That very last part was just absolutely beautiful.
It's not too often we see our favorite apple bucking earth pony be filled with child-like giddiness and it is absolutely adorable to see this side of her. I can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans she gets involved in with the CMC! 
Need a 'have' or 'are' here. Like Spike and Rainbow Dash! Need the and between them. Otherwise it becomes Spike Rainbow Dash, and this isn't a shipping fic last I checked. Mostly not at least.