The normal life of Nitpick Bittersweet

by Ryusun

Chapter 29 - Rainbow and Twilight´s meaningful moments! Tale 3

This was the best day ever! I couldn’t believe that Principal Celestia was able to give us free entrances to the most awesome chance to be under the tutelage of Wind Rider! I’m gonna grab his best techniques so I can improve the school training and become unbeatable in the Intern College Tournament!

“Rainbow, why I am here?”

“Because you need to improve your physical threshold, Twilight! This is gonna help you by a long shot, trust me!”

“If you say so…”

“Aw, man! C’mon, don’t make that face! You are surrounded by friends! All of the guys that participated in the games treated you nicely! We’ll have fun! You’ll see!”

“You are right, Rainbow Dash! It’s going to be fun!”

Awesome, that’s the way! Except for that not all my friends got the change to come. Rarity is stuck with an important business, Applejack had an emergency job in her farm, Sunset and Spitfire were coordinating all the sport clubs and Fluttershy was in the shelter doing extra work to fix the mess of Nitpick who happened to be over there! Who gave him the ticket to be here? I knew no one of us gave him an invitation and nobody of Crystal Prep did either. The reaction of Indigo Zap was proof of it.

Whatever, as long as he doesn’t mess with us, then fine. Nobody can ruin this training! It’ll be the coolest thing ever! ...Besides having magical powers…Belong to a rock band…And defeating ancient evils from another world. But cool nonetheless!

“OUT OF THE WAY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”

That voice!

“I ARRIVED HERE FIRST, YOU BRUTISH BRUTE!”

I could never forget that voice! I can’t believe she was allowed to be here in the first place! Her white hair, white skin and light-yellow eyes were unforgettable even after all these years.

“So, Dust. You still believe you stand a chance against me, right?”

“Last time was a lucky shot. I am faster and cunning than you.”

“PFF! Please, the moment I catch you is the moment you die. Like always.”

“WANT TO TEST YOUR MIGHT RIGHT NOW!?”

“ANYTIME, BITCH!”

“Enough! Both of you stand down if you don’t want to be kicked out from the facilities!”

A staff member stopped their fight.

I knew you haven’t changed one bit! I wonder if you remembered me. Guess I’ll find out sooner than I thought. As both walked closer to our direction, I noticed two things; One was that those two were tall, not Celestia, Luna, Big Mac or Nitpick tall, but tall anyway. And two, she had the insignia of the Shadowbolts on her chest.

So that’s where you ended up after all these years, uh?

She noticed me. I could feel those eyes looking at me. But they are meaningless against me. I was not scared of her.

“Rainbow! Is that…?”

“Yes, Pinkie. Stay back. I mean it.”

“B-But-“

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?” Twilight said scared.

”Both of you, stay back, now.”

She stood in front of me and we were looking to each other face to face.

“…Dash.”

“…Gilda.”

“You are shorter than I remember…”

“You are taller than I remember…”

“I have drink my milk and eaten my fruits and vegetables, so it’s only natural that I‘m taller and stronger now!” Gilda said with a slight tone of arrogance.

I can see that.

“I may be shorter and weaker than you in raw power, but I’m faster, agile and nimble. Those are my strengths.”

“Want to find out which one is superior now?” Gilda said with a taunting expression.

“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE!! IT SEEMS THAT SOME PARTICIPANTS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ASSIST ANYMORE SO THOSE WHO DOESN’T HAVE A PARTNER, TEAM UP WITH ANOTHER ONE”

“Dammit! Do they always need to scream like that in this kind of things!? We can hear them perfectly in this cramped place! But it seems that this saved you from a humiliating experience, Dash.”

“I don’t need to be saved from anyone against you! I can take you on any day!”

“Oh yeah?“

“I am stronger than before in my way!”

“So do I!”

“But you are alone! I have friends who will raise me every time I fall! That’s give me my edge!”

“What? Do you mean that pink fucker over there? Please, spare me you heroics and bullshit, traitor.”

“Good luck finding someone who is willing to team with you after this recent entrance you made here.”

“Mmm.”

She started to look around, but it was of not use. Nobody will team up with her.

“Aha! Seems I have found someone who is all by himself now.”

What? Who?

It only took me a few moments to notice who she was talking about. She walked straight to him while grabbing his attention.

“Hey! Wanna team up with me instead of being surrounded by losers alone!?”

Nitpick!

Oh man! Oh man! I don’t like the guy but please say no! Say no! For your sake, say no!

He raised his head and simply nodded with agreement.

“IS THAT GUY CRAZY!?”

That jerk is also a fool!

“Oh no!”

“What’s wrong, Twilight?”

“I am worried about him. Even I have heard of Gilda Heavensbane! She is trouble!”

“Dash and me know her, Twilight! We had problems with her when we were starting middle school years ago”

“Old story, Pinkie. Forget about them! Let’s focus on what we really came for.”

“But Rainbow! We must keep a look on him!” Twilight said worrisome.

“If he gets in trouble, he’ll be by himself. I won’t help him for what he did to my friends.”

“B-but-“

“No buts! Pinkie, call the others and let’s start training! We don’t want to waste the change that the Principal gave to us!”

“Yes, Sir!”

Training got harder now that most of the class was here. I could see he was struggling with her. Serves him right for being a jerk!

The day ended and Tuesday arrived. We were on chemistry preparing for the test of next week. I felt great and full of energy, Pinkie was the same as me in that regard and Twilight…uh.

“’Pst’ Twilight. Are you alright?” I whispered to her.

“Uh…oh, yeah. Just a bit sore and tired.” She said with a dead-like expression.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Today will be better!”

“Hehe…eh, yeah”

That’s the spirit!

Speaking of spirit and willpower, I can see that Nitpick was tired as well. Not dead like Twilight but incredible sore. Serves him right!

Class ended and he went away, probably to that loner spot he has for himself. Whatever.

“Rainbow, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, Twilight! But can it be after we eat something? I’m hungry!”

“Sounds nice! But can we speak in private?” She said with a serious and worrisome feeling.

This must be important to her.

“Of course. Let’s go and have breakfast, I know a place on the gymnasium of the school were nobody will hear us.”

“Thanks!”

We went and ate our breakfast with the rest of the girls and after having a small chat, Twilight and I went straight to the place I told her before and she started asking her questions.

“Why did you talk back to Gilda? She could have hurt you!”

OOOOH! So this is what she was worried about!

“Relax, Twilight! I can take care of myself against her just fine! I’m awesome, remember!?”

“But she is strong and dangerous! That’s what I heard from other people who talked about her back at Crystal Prep!”

“So I am! I know her from before Fluttershy and I moved to Ponyville! She was different back then, but once she visited me during holiday season in middle school, she showed me her true colors when Pinkie tried to befriend her!”

“You were friends with Gilda?”

“Not anymore! She had a rage attack with Pinkie and then she got pissed with me when I defended Pinkie! She was awful that day and since then we lost touch with each other, until now. It surprises me a little bit that she ended up in Crystal Prep. That school is expensive and not to insult her Grandpops who always did his best to raise her but they weren't of the rich type. Know something about it?”

“No. I just heard the rumors of the school of her being mean and aggressive, but you know I wasn't in the loop in anything important. I was alone back then and-“

“Say no more! You are here now! With us! Besides, you saw for yourself a great change yesterday! Some of the guys of Crystal Prep are good now! You can’t fake good vibes like that! That’s another example of the Magic of Friendship!”

“You are right…But I’m worried about Nitpick”

“What do you see in that guy? He isn't friendly material! You should choose friends just the way I do!”

“How?” She asked with a curious expression.

“Being loyal and stand up for your friends! Just like I did with Pinkie long ago! Always defend your friends and believe me, they will help you back, always! Being faithful to the cause, to your friends, your family, and the people who trust you no matter the circumstances is what loyalty is all about! And if a friend hurts one of your other friends for no good reason, then that’s no friend at all!”

“That somehow sounds so right!”

“It’s because I am right, Twilight! Stick with the girls and me and I assure you that you’ll be able to make true friends easily for the rest of your life! Now! ARE YOU READY FOR TRAINING TODAY?”

“YES!”

“THAT’S THE SPIRIT!”

“Thank you for listening to me, Rainbow Dash.”

“Twilight!” I put my hands on her shoulders “You are my friend, so chill out!”

She gave me a small but warm smirk. This feels right!

Finally classes ended for today, and all my teammates of yesterday and I met again in the gym! Wind Rider told us a story of one of his best moments before we started our day.

“Being successful is about getting up after you get knocked down or trying one more time after you have failed one-thousand times! That’s something I can say with all certainty! You must never let negative thoughts pummel your spirit! Just as I won my third medal in the forests of Everfree City in the beautiful country of Great Equine, you must not step back to the challenge! I remember that day, those forest are beautiful! But deep inside they are a treacherous maze! One wrong step and it was game over, you could end up lost for days, and don’t make me start telling you about the atmospheric pressure of the land! But did I coward to the unknown? NO! I kept running forward and that’s how I won! It took me five hours with three minutes to complete the course so let’s who of you can beat my record! But enough about me for today, let’s start your training once again! You know the drill so please get in line!”

Wow! One of these days I will break his record and become the best athlete ever! For now, I just need to improve my already awesome skills and teach what I learned to the rest of the team back at school. We started our warm-ups and once we were done with them, we used the training machines next.

“All of you who are using the static bicycles try to stand up little by little! You in the Crunchmatic try to use your legs as a pivot! That’s the use of those metal tubes you see there! You!”

As expected of a Pro! He could multi-task with everyone and keep his cool while giving precise commands.

“You! What do you think you are doing!?”

“Training.”

Gilda!

“That’s not the way I taught you. You are doing it wrong!”

“The way you taught us is for sprinters and I am doing the long-distance, training type.”

“Trying to beat my record, uh?”

“Perhaps.” Gilda said with an arrogant attitude.

How dare you to talk to a legend like that!?

“Umm, alright, you’ll have to learn the hard way! Try to not damage the machinery while at it. If you are interested in learning the right way, I’ll be over there with the others! And you, youngster, want to come and see how it’s done?”

“I’ll be there later, I am having trouble to get up right now. Your exercises are hard to do.” Nitpick said with a tired expression.

“Of course they are! Glad to see you are learning how to work hard! Join us when you can in a moment!”

Wow! He is so Aweeeeeesoooome and considerate!

“Rainbow ‘pant’ I ‘can’t do…”

Twilight fell to the floor! I forgot we were doing the ‘Two-man’ push-up style!

“Rainbow, we are tired-wired!”

“Pinkie, what?”

“I believe she is saying we are exhausted, Rainbow Dash.” Soarin complained...as always.

“The rest of us are tired as well, Rainbow. We can’t go on”

“No! Get up! All of you are doing fine! Just a few more rounds and we will be done for now!”

“But we can’t!”

“Something is wrong, my students?”

Please get up! Specially you, Twilight! I don’t want him to see any of you like this!

“Nothing, sir! My partner and the rest of my schoolmates are just resting!”

“I don’t think your partner is of the athletic type. Why did you bring her here?”

“So she can improve herself, sir!” I said with all my enthusiasm and sincerity.

“I see. Very well, keep training hard, Miss.”

“Yes, sir!”

As soon as he left, I helped Twilight to get back on her feet.

“Twilight! You must try harder! I know you can do it! I know all of you can do it!”

“Yes, Rainbow Dash! I’ll try!” Twilight assure me with a tired but confident expression.

The rest of the team agreed with her. This is real teamwork!

“Good! That’s the spirit”

“ALL RIGHT EVERYONE! THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY! SAFE TRIP HOME AND WE WILL SEE YOU TOMORROW AGAIN!”

“All right, let’s go home, everybody! Good work!”

We got out of the building and went to the bus stop. Now I just need to get out some money from my sports bag and I forgot it in the gym...

“Be right back! I forgot my bag on the gym!”

I got back quickly before they closed the place. Some students were still there and were leaving the gym. I searched for my belongings and they there are!

“Rainbow Dash was your name, right?” Someone spoke from behind.

Oh, My Gosh! Oh, My Gosh! Oh, My Gosh! Wind Rider remembered my name! Calm down, be cool!

“Yeah, that’s me! What’s up, sir?”

“Oh, the confident type! Good, this will be easy to explain, then!”

“What do you mean by ‘easy to explain’, sir?”

“You see, I know talent when I see it and I want you, Indigo zap and some other students to be the poster athletes for this particular event.”

“SERIOUSLY!?”

“Yes! But there is one little, insignificant problem that impedes you to achieve my proposal!”

“What is that? I am not training hard enough?”

“Oh no! You are doing great, but your current partner is simply holding you back. I need you to get rid of her so you can team up with Lighting Dust! Both of you seem compatible and she will help you reach your full potential!”

“Get rid of Twilight!? But she is my friend! I can't possible do that!”

“If she is explained of the situation, she will understand! Besides, it seems she is not enjoying the training. She is your friend, no? She will be happy to know that you can go far in an opportunity like this!”

“But I-“

“Oh, don’t give me an answer just yet! Think about it tonight and give me your answer tomorrow. Tell what we discussed to your friend and you will see she will understand!”

“I’ll think about it…”

“Excellent!”

We parted ways after that little talk. I arrived to the bus stop and Twilight was still there.

“Oh! You took your sweet time, Rainbow. Glad to see you found your bag!”

“Yeah. Uhm, why are you still here? You should have taken the bus to your home!”

“I waited for you! I asked my mom to give you a ride home and she agreed to it!”

“Why? I mean the ride home. I can take the bus just fine!”

“Why? Because we are friends! You and the girls always look for me! Always cheering me up and giving me strength! I promise you that tomorrow I will do my best as well!”

That smile of her! It’s so warm and cozy! Just like the Princess! Maybe warmer! I don’t know what to do! I want to be in the winning team that Wind Rider was making! But I want to be with Twilight and help her become better too! What should I choose for tomorrow!?

Author's Note:

Chapter rewrote on 31/08/2016

Fanart updated on 12/10/2016. Lackluster, is what I feel the old drawing was.

Comments

[Guy With No Name]

Nitpick partnering with Gilda?

Better go get his grave ready....