Rainbow
Twilight was still in a remarkably panicked state when at last she reached the Princess’s study. After a particularly energetic discussion about why Princess Celestia would not punish Twilight for being five minutes late, the two had settled down to go over Twilight’s research and homework from the last week. Celestia smiled upon concluding her examination of Twilight’s notes.
“I must admit, Twilight, these are very thorough notes you have taken. I’m impressed,” Celestia let a small laugh slip from her mouth at the prideful and overjoyed ‘squee’ Twilight emitted upon that praise. “But, while your math is correct on this formulae here, I am afraid it doesn’t really belong in this bit of research…”
“But… it does!” Twilight protested with a worried frown. “I ran over it so many times! What am I missing?”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Twilight, calculating the average number of Apples in an earth pony corn farmer’s diet is not really relevant to how you can use magic to aid the growth of a corn plant, or other forms of plant life, for that matter.”
“Except that the ground that the corn is grown from needs to be tended to for it to grow at all,” Twilight began, leaning over to look at her notes as well, propping herself up on Celestia’s foreleg. “I have calculations here, here and here on the average number of all sorts of fruits and vegetables farmers consume. Their diets impact their ability to work the fields, and by extension, the quality of the soil and, also by extension, the chances the corn has for growth.”
Celestia blinked and then laughed quietly. “Oh, my faithful student, sometimes I think you may be just a bit too faithful.”
“Huh?”
“You were so focused on the facets of normal corn growth that you forgot a very simple piece of this puzzle,” she peered at Twilight inquisitively. “Do you think you can figure out what it is?”
“Uhm…” Twilight shifted in place uneasily, scrutinizing the sheets of parchment with great intensity. Her eye twitched from strain before she sat back and shook her head. “I’m not sure, Princess Celestia…”
“What is the subject of this assignment, Twilight?” Celestia furthered, maintaining eye contact with Twilight.
The filly perked up and cleared her throat.“The use of magic to assist plant growth in farmlands,” Twilight recited almost without thinking. She looked to Celestia with a scrunched up face. “And I did cover that.”
“You covered most of it. But you forgot something kind of obvious…” Celestia smiled in amusement before levitating the parchment over to Twilight, the aura around the sheets somewhat brighter than normal, making the filly squint. “Magic. You are correct that the soil needs to be enriched for plant life to grow well, but you missed out on looking for spells used to enrich the soil in place of physical fertilizer. Ground fertilization spells are commonplace for gardeners and the sort, Twilight. Not as effective as true, solid fertilizer most of the time, but regardless, such spells exist.”
Twilight paled as these details sunk in. “Oh…” she then chuckled sheepishly and tried to hide behind her tail, wrapping it around herself like a blanket. “Oops.”
Celestia laughed outright before draping an alabaster wing over Twilight and pulling her closer. “You need to make sure you focus your attention, Twilight. Your inquisitive nature is one of the things I adore most about having you as my student, but it lacks direction or focus. I think we should work on that next.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “That sounds good to me. When do we start on that?”
Celestia glanced to Twilight, then back to the mound of notes and research. Her smile faded, replaced with a worried frown “First, I have one more question for you, Twilight.”
“Yes?”
“How long did you work on this? Did you even step away from working on this assignment at all this week?” Celestia unrolled a particularly long scroll for emphasis, watching it unravel before the ends touched the far wall of the room.
“Yeah, when I was eating and sleeping, bathroom breaks and this morning when I went to the archives to look for books on dragon physiology.” Twilight nodded along happily, puffing up with pride. “I got a lot done.”
Celestia grimaced subtly before re-stacking the parchment neatly off to one side. “Maybe so, but who knows how many opportunities you missed.”
“Uh… opportunities? What do you mean?” Twilight watched as Celestia stood up to gaze out one of the numerous windows in the room.
Celestia hummed with thought. For several long seconds, she stood in silence before turning back around to look at Twilight. “I shouldn’t be too specific. You wouldn’t learn anything if it was forced,” she closed her eyes and nodded to herself. She then reopened them and looked into Twilight’s own eyes seriously. “I want you to take the next week off. Recharge your mind, relax, unwind, etcetera.”
“A week?!” Twilight screeched in alarm, her ears flattening back against her head. “B-but, that’s seven days!”
“Seven days of rest will make you significantly more efficient when you resume your studies, Twilight. You’re overworking yourself and I need you to take some time to let that tension out.” Celestia pointed out simply, trotting forward to stand over Twilight once more.
“What tension?” Twilight pressed, to which Celestia simply sat down in front of Twilight to pat her on the shoulder. Twilight winced slightly when her shoulder throbbed in protest.
“That tension. Sitting hunched over books and notes all day for so long has put some serious strain on your body and mind. I can see it quite clearly, Twilight.” Celestia said gently, retracting her hoof and looking her student in the eyes again. “You need the time off; trust me.”
Twilight sagged and nodded dejectedly. “Okay…”.
“Besides, I may need your help with other matters over the next week.” Celestia added with a small smirk forming on her face. Twilight instantly perked back up, gazing to Celestia excitedly. “Rainbow Dash will be needing somepony to keep her company when I cannot. A guide, a playmate, a friend. I will do what I can on that front whenever possible, but my royal duties won’t wait for me.”
Twilight frowned at the mentioning of the newcomer and the excitement around her vanished almost instantly. She brushed a hoof against the ground to let off some nervous energy, looking up at Celestia uneasily. “I’ve actually been meaning to ask since I got here… who is she?” Celestia lost her smile, closed her eyes and said nothing. Twilight’s frown deepened. “Where is she from?”
“Cloudsdale.”
“So she came back with you from that ‘royal errand’ you had to run?” Twilight deduced, remembering where Celestia had said she was going the previous day when she left.
“Yes.”
“Why? Who is she?”
Celestia opened her eyes and frowned at Twilight sternly. “I am not at liberty to discuss those matters right now, Twilight.”
Twilight swiftly shrunk slightly under Celestia’s gaze, immediately breaking eye contact. “Alright, but… why?”
Celestia’s eyes lost much of their intensity. She sighed apologetically before sitting up straight. “I promised her I wouldn’t answer any questions about who she is or why she is here that she herself was not ready to answer,” Celestia put on a smile and leaned down to Twilight, gently patting her on top the head with a hoof. “She’s been through a great deal, Twilight. I will not put any unnecessary pressure on her mind if I can help it.” Celestia then leaned back slightly to tap Twilight’s nose with the tip of her hoof. “Or yours, while we’re on the subject.”
Twilight giggled at the impromptu boop before throwing a hug around Princess Celestia’s neck. “Alright. I understand, Princess.”
Celestia hummed contentedly and returned the hug, pulling Twilight close. “Good,” she then looked up to a clock that was hung from one of the walls. Still a little on the early side for their session to end, but still… “Why don’t you get your week off started now?”
“Right now?” Twilight sounded almost disappointed, leaning back to look Celestia in the eyes.
“Yes, Twilight, right now. Go have some fun.”
When Celestia told Twilight to have fun, she most likely didn’t mean for Twilight to go sit on a bench in the private wing and read adventure stories for hours on end. But, all the same, without needing to devote brain power to memorization and note-taking, Twilight was already feeling significantly more relaxed than she had been three hours prior in Celestia’s study.
“When is she gonna move…?”
Except for the fact that Rainbow Dash was trying to spy on her from the ceiling, hiding behind pillars and other whatnot. She had been at this for about an hour, now. If she understood the concept of quiet at all, she wasn’t making good use of it. Generally, being a good spy meant finding a well-hidden location to observe from without making audible sounds. Rainbow was in mid-air, her tiny wings practically buzzing in the air as she watched Twilight. Periodically, she would zip from one hiding spot to another. She was also complaining about how boring this was.
Finally, Twilight got fed up with the prismatic pegasus’ flitting about and shot her a look. “If you’re finding this so boring, why not come down here, read a book and stop spying on me.”
Rainbow blinked in alarm before zipping down in front of Twilight fast enough to throw some wind into the little filly’s face. A scowl formed on Rainbow’s face. “How’d you know I was there?”
“I have absolutely no idea.” Twilight deadpanned sarcastically before her horn lit up. Rainbow's eyes widened when she felt a pull on her tail, bringing her to the ground.
“Let go!” Rainbow suddenly snapped, thrashing back from Twilight, who instantly dropped her use of magic to stare at Rainbow in surprise. Rainbow took a few seconds to calm herself, taking deep breaths before glaring at Twilight. “Don’t. Do. That.”
Twilight recoiled at the tone of Rainbow’s voice, her eyes glued to the other filly. “Uh… Sorry?”
Rainbow merely snorted and turned her back to Twilight. “Just don’t do it again.”
“You could say ‘please,’ you know.” Twilight snarked out bluntly. Rainbow tensed up, her wings twitching in agitation.
“Uh huh. Sure. Whatever.” Rainbow growled before looking back at Twilight. She then took a moment to look to her left and right, checking for others. When she saw nopony else, her eyes glued onto Twilight’s. Then trailed down to the sides of her barrel. “So… what’s with the little filly getup, huh?”
Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash blankly for several long seconds. “Uh… I’m sorry, what are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Dash suddenly snapped, zooming up and pressing her face up into Twilight’s. “Where are your wings, eh? Why are you so small?!”
“Wings?!” Twilight questioned in alarm, backing swiftly away from Rainbow Dash, who continued her pursuit aggressively. “I’m a unicorn! I’m just a filly! What are you talking about!?”
“NO! That’s wrong!” Rainbow snapped, reaching out with her forehooves and grabbing Twilight by the shoulders. “I’ve seen you before! At the race in Cloudsdale! You and some other pony! You were proudly showing off your wings there! Why not now? WHY were you there?! WHO ARE YOU?!”
“Get off of me!” Twilight cried out in a near panic, her horn lighting up and throwing Rainbow Dash off of her with a burst of telekinesis. Rainbow yelped in pain when she hit the ground before rolling back to her hooves, glaring ragefully at Twilight.
“DON’T DO THAT!”
“Calm down! Please!” Twilight pleaded, hopping out of her seat and quickly backing away. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Calm down?!” Rainbow threw her forelegs wide, a vein bulging in her throat. “Oh, sure! I’ll get right on that!” she then pointed a hoof accusingly at Twilight. “Just as soon as you tell me who you are and why you were at my race!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Twilight repeated, stepping back again.
“But you do! You have to! Same cutie mark, same colors, the baby dragon!? Aside from being small and hiding your wings you're the same pony! I want answers, dangit! YOU OWE ME ANSWERS!” Rainbow screamed before closing her eyes and looking away. She was trembling horribly and… it sounded like she was suppressing a sob.
Twilight looked at Rainbow with wide eyes and a hanging jaw. “I’m sorry… I don’t have any answers for you.”
Rainbow grit her teeth before a scream tore from her lungs. She took to the air and shot past Twilight fast enough for the following gust to knock her off her hooves. Twilight grunted when she hit the floor and looked up just in time for Rainbow to disappear into her room, slamming the door behind her.
Stats
Page generated in 0.043 seconds
Total duration
661 users online
818,591 hits today, 1,822,946 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.®
Welp, so much for R.D being super smart and realising time travel, rather then... you know, being Rainbow Dash.
8334368
Poor Twilight, I am beginning to suspect her life is going to be rather unpleasant for the time being whenever Dash is around.
8334384
A great deal of time travel?
:P
Very little I can say other than great job on the chapter. Once again, the characterizations were quite well done. Of course, I have to say, I AM feeling sorry for both Twilight AND Rainbow (though SLIGHTLY more for Twilight right now).
I mean, yes, Rainbow's obviously been through A LOT in a short amount of time, so it's understandable she could be more than a little upset right now.
On the other hand, I can definitely understand why Twi could be frustrated and freaked out about getting grilled over stuff that she obviously and legitimately has no clue about yet (key word "yet").
I have a feeling that things will get worse before they get better, but I'm definitely holding on to hope that they WILL get better LONG before Nightmare Moon returns.
But at any rate, I am very definitely looking forward to more, but will also be quite willing to be patient.
A lesson she was still learning ten years later...
I'm actually shocked Twi missed a detail like that. Everyone/pony was young once, huh?
Yay you did it! Now where's that cardboard box...?
So did RD tell Celestia this or will Twi mention it? Or neither?
media.tenor.com/images/dd8b74e8d8db7c3205cbbefe7cb35d21/tenor.gif
I swear, filly Twilight is a hidden gem. Tension's really amping up between these two, and I'm loving every second of it
calling it Rainbow's parents died in the face off in this timeline.
Uh oh... I can feel it could go horribly wrong: Twilight having no choice but hang out with Rainbow Dash due to constant Celestia's orders, enduring emotional abuse from another filly 24/7, and growing up as a jaded bitter antisocial mare. I hope it won't come to that.
Is this intended to be one of the alternate timelines that was the result of the season 5 finale? Is this a timeline that, rather than preventing the sonic rainboom, Twilight and Starlight's battle resulted in the death of Rainbow's parents? That would explain Starlight being in the art.
As for Spike understanding Twilight, I have a theory. Spike was hatched from Twilight's magic. So perhaps that created some sort of telepathic bond. So perhaps Spike doesn't actually understand the meaning of the words, but rather the meaning of the thoughts connected with the words, since thoughts aren't exclusively vocabulary. That would explain how Spike can know when Twilight needs a hug without her uttering a single word.
... I'm not sure what's happening in this sentence. I think a word or two might have gotten left out?
8457253
That was actually just a massive case of typolitus, which I shall work to cure right now.
8445383
It is safe to say: it did not come to that.
Yes, Please don't restrain me against my will again
8658632
Rainbow is handled by magic a lot in the show and movie. She never seems overly perturbed by it beyond mild disgruntlement there. She has a significantly better reason for despising being held in magic in this new continuity. (In case you haven't gotten there, yet.)
Hmmm.....Two alicorns? Well, I know that Twilight was one of them, but who was the other? Unless Dash mistook Starlight’s use of magic to make her fly as another alicorn.
Guess I’ll have to keep reading to figure out the answer to this.
8750820
She said 'you were showing your wings proudly,' I think she meant Twilight specifically. Although, time travel is weird and there is literally an infinite number of reasons why Starlight would have wings too.
Why do I get the feeling that Rainbow's parents were killed in the fight between Starlight and Twilight? It would explain her attitude towards Twilight and would also explain why Celestia was able to adopt Rainbow Dash. Is it too early in the story for me to be speculating plot points and guessing future plot twists?
Hmm... From the sound of it, it seems Rainbow had an encounter with a different purple pony... One that was trying to save a multiverse...
8334368
To be fair, even in MLP lying and disguises are far more common than time travel.
I think I get it now. This is one of the alternate timelines created during the timeloop battle with Starlight.
I WAS WONDERING WHETHER RAINBOW REMEMBERED TWILIGHT FROM THAT TIME FIASCO! Is this an alternate timeline created by Starlight?
9771989
Oh ho, buddy...
You have quite the adventure ahead of you if you stick with this series.
9772027
Good thing I'm starting this now then
Um hi, I'm very late to this series.
But I just started reading about 10 minutes ago, and you have my full attention.
I'm excited to see where this goes
-Sunny
10319985
Well, hopefully I get to KEEP your full attention. It's a lot of words, many of which I know could have been written far better.
8455422
Probably not to this extent, but most children can understand more spoken language than they themselves can speak. A relevant term to web search would be "receptive language".
Telepathy is possible, but Occam's Razor is against it.
Oh.................................................................................Twilight from the future.
This is interesting.
Twilight sparkle is pretty much a workaholic