Bedtime Stories

by Incredible Blunderbolt

The Leak

Drip, drip, drip, drip...

Twilight grit her teeth and twisted the wrench as sharply as she could. It spun around the rusty pipe with a sharp squeak. In an instant, the drips seemed to double.

“Ugh!” the unicorn shrieked as a rogue spurt shot from the pipe and hit her square in the eye. “Not again!” Frantically, she twisted the wrench the other way and the deluge subsided, but not before it added to her new in-kitchen swimming pool.

Rainbow Dash covered her mouth with a hoof and stove off a giggle as Twilight dove under the sink with renewed vigor. “Are you sure you know what you're doing, Twilight?”

“Of course I do, Rainbow!” Twilight huffed. Her voice strained for a moment and then a loud clang echoed from the cupboard and the faucet decided that it no longer felt like holding back Ponyville's water supply. Twilight growled. “That shouldn't even be possible!

A smirk grew on Rainbow's ever-cheerful face. She blew a bubble with her gum and popped it without a second thought. “Seriously,” she snickered. “It's just a little leak...” She eyed the faucet, which was dumping out enough water to make a firetruck envious. “Or... it was....”

“Little leaks can cause bigger problems than they let on,” Twilight argued, shifting her position and twisting the wrench around her foreleg. “A leaky faucet wastes water which can be better applied elsewhere in town. The uncontrolled flow could cause oxidization of my pipes or water damage to the substructure of the library.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Twilight,” she deadpanned. “You live in a tree.”

Twilight froze in the middle of her repairs. “The same principle applies.” There was a thunk and Twilight dropped her wrench as another jet of water rocketed out of a pipe. The water coming out of the faucet somehow doubled its flow. The water spurted so hard into the sink that it formed a miniature geyser that added even more water to the floor.

With a frantic shriek, Twilight jumped back out from under the sink as a violet aura walled off the hydro-explosion and kept it contained inside the cupboard. Rainbow couldn't help but giggle as Twilight shook the water from her mane with a groan, but a quick glare silenced her instantly. Though the unicorn’s face was drenched, a few black smudges decorated her face in a way Rainbow thought was absolutely adorable—especially the one that crossed the bridge of her nose, where she'd no-doubt been resting her head on a pipe.

“Not a single word, Rainbow,” Twilight seethed as she picked the wrench back up from the floor. “I did that completely and one-hundred percent intentionally!”

“Sure you did, Egghead,” Dash said soothingly, popping another bubble. “But maybe you should just seal it with magic?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I don't want to,” she answered, studying the interior of the cupboard as it filled with water. “I don't have to. I've studied irrigation systems more than long enough to fix a stupid leak!”

Dash sighed as she watched Twilight fit the wrench back into the cupboard and twist a random fitting. The water gushing from the sink trickled down, but the leaking pipe still flowed like Dash imagined Neighagra Falls did. “Will you at least let me help you?” she pouted. “We're already running late as it is...”

“Rainbow, my home is flooding!” Twilight grunted as she tucked the wrench to the side and placed her head back under the sink. The action forced her to adjust her standing position in relation to Dash, who felt her cheeks warm immediately as her eyes jumped to places she knew they shouldn't go. “I know you went through a lot to set this date up, but don't you think this is a little more important?”

A frown stretched on the pegasus's face. She scraped a hoof on the ground and groaned to herself. “But Twilight! You could at least let me help!”

Under the sink another clang echoed and the torrent of water slowed back down to a drip. “There!” Twilight cried cheerfully. “Finally! Now, I just have to adjust the angle stop...” A pinching sound and a couple of clicks later, the water from the faucet halted completely.

Rainbow's ears perked up. “Done?” she asked excitedly, poking her head under the sink just in time to catch a spurt of unfiltered town water right up her nose. “Aw!” she spat, taking her gum out so that she could scrape her tongue with a hoof. “Nasty!”

“Well, be patient then, Rainbow!” Twilight chastised. “We'll head out when we head out and not before.”

“But what if that's not even tonight?” Dash whined, plopping down in the puddle with a defeated look. “I've already been waiting all week, and Ruby's only serves cider on Friday!”

When Twilight didn't respond, she supposed she'd give her a few more minutes of silence. Maybe, just maybe, the unicorn would have some kind of mental breakthrough and realize that pipes were nowhere near as cool as her supposed date was.

This wasn't even fair, either! She'd finally gotten the courage to ask Twilight out to dinner and the luck that got the mare to say “yes,” but she certainly didn't have either of those now! If she'd been courageous, she would have just dragged Twilight away. If she'd had luck, Scootaloo wouldn't have decided that she wanted a plumbing cutie mark in the first place.

“Ugh! This stupid drip won't go away!” Twilight growled, pulling on the wrench as hard as she could. “I'm not strong enough to rotate the fitting further!” She threw her weight forward with a gasp, but nothing happened. “We might have to go get Applejack, Rainbow.”

“Applejack?” Rainbow huffed indignantly. “What makes you think I can't turn it?”

Twilight raised her brow. “Uh-uh,” she said definitively. “No way. You might be strong enough, Rainbow, but you don't know when to quit—you'd probably burst the pipe if it turns out I'm wrong.”

“What?” Dash cried. “I totally know when enough is—“

“Rainbow,” Twilight deadpanned. “Are you really gonna go there?”

Dash crossed her forelegs on the floor. “Fine!” she pouted. “But couldn't you just use your magic instead?”

The unicorn shook her head. “No, Rainbow,” she answered with a tired sigh. “I won't be able to feel the tension on the wrench—I might break the pipe too. Applejack is our best bet.”

“But Sweet Apple Acres is twenty miles away!” Rainbow's head dropped in frustration. “It'll take forever for AJ to get here!”

“Then we're just going to have to wait, won't we?”

“But what about—“

“We'll do it tomorrow!” Twilight snapped.

Dash chewed her gum haughtily as Twilight glared at the piping. She had an idea that might make both of them happy if she could word it right. “How about a little bet, then?”

Twilight looked at her with surprise. “What?”

Standing up, Rainbow trotted over to Twilight and watched the water drip from the pipe. “If I can't stop that dripping, we'll do things your way: I'll wait for AJ with you and we'll go out tomorrow instead.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Rainbow cut her off.

“But!” she said with a grin, bopping the unicorn on the nose. “If I win, we leave right now.” She paused for a moment, then smiled as another idea came to her. “And,” she added mischievously, “you give me a kiss!”

A skeptical look overcame Twilight's face. “I literally just said I don't want you using that wrench on—“

“—I won't use the wrench!” Dash said, sticking her tongue out. “Besides, I won't need it. So are you in or what?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, exasperated. “I'll take that bet, Rainbow. But how—“

“You'll see!” Rainbow said with a smile. She trotted up to the cupboard and stuck her head inside to get a good look at the piping. At the connection point of two sections, a steady stream of water was slipping its way out and curving around the side until it hit the bottom, where it dripped freely to the floor.

No problem!

Smiling, she spat her gum into her hoof and slapped in over the connection point. She rubbed it into the crease for a few moments until the water died down and double-checked to ensure that nothing was breaking free of her seal.

Perfect!

Wasting no time, she pulled herself back out of the cupboard and presented the piping to Twilight with a smug grin. “Ta-da!”

Twilight's jaw dropped. “I... How did...”

Chuckling, Dash swooped in and pecked her on the lips. “I totally woulda done it just for the kiss,” she whispered into Twilight's reddening ear. “But you owe me a date now, so let's go!”

“Fixed... Kiss... You... Pipes... Huh?”

Without waiting for Twilight's flabbergasted short-circuiting to stop—or even slow down—Rainbow dragged her by the hoof to the outside door. “Spike!” she called up the stairs as they passed, “Pipes are fixed! You know where the mop is! Gotta-go-now-bye!”

Before the dragon could protest, she pulled Twilight out the door and into the street. “Ruby's cider, here we come!”

Author's Note:

Prompt supplied by Cryosite on a whim when I asked for it. Getting anything unrelated to tacos from her is like winning the lottery, so this fic could have been a lot different. Thanks, Cryo!

Also, I have a feeling that Twilight wouldn't get along with the Mario brothers...

Best plumber.

New stuff is right around the bend, so I hope you're ready!

Comments

[Kage no Brony]

Ad'awwable.

[Incredible Blunderbolt]

4174212
Click here
Pulled it off of a Google search.

[Timaeus]

Jeez, not even letting Twilight get cleaned up first? Class act there, Rainbow.

Seriously though, this was adorbs.

[shynight]

4176217
static.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/MjAxMy1iZDE0ODI1YjViNTA1N2Rl.png

[SIGAWESOME]

Ha ha. That was cute. I only hope Ruby's does not sell out of cider before Dash and Twilight arrive...

New stuff is right around the bend

I see what you did there...
Looking forward to it.

[Icanhazmochi]

MLP: Plumbing is Magic! :P

[Kage no Brony]

4174256

Prompt supplied by Cryosite on a whim when I asked for it. Getting anything unrelated to tacos from her is like winning the lottery

Cryosite is obsessed with tacos...
Sonata is obsessed with tacos...
If A = C and B = C, then A = B...
Oh my god, I've mathematically proven Cryosite is Sonata!