Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

70. The Letter

Twilight was eagerly scratching away at a piece of parchment as she and Pinkie settled down in their train cabin. Her conversation with Fluttershy had given her a lot to think about, and a lot she wanted to talk to Rarity about, so she wanted to send Rarity a letter that she could read in case Twilight returned to the library before Rarity.

At first, Twilight wanted to put all the stuff she wanted to talk about in the letter, but she realized she only had so much parchment and even besides that, it would be better to talk to Rarity in person about the serious stuff. Twilight was just glad she knew a spell that could erase the words off the parchment, so she could keep re-using the same piece of paper over and over after every failed attempt at making the letter.

So Twilight contented herself with merely regaling Rarity with the details of her trip. She talked about how she met Fluttershy, how interesting it was to meet the spirit of the forest, but also it was a little scary. How Pinkie Pie had been an absolute delight to travel with, and the ‘Sugarcube Corner’ that the pair stopped by on the way back to the train station sold the most delectable confectionaries.

She also wrote that she missed Rarity, and bit down on her lip as she wondered how appropriate it would be to write down that she couldn’t wait to see her again. She didn’t even notice her cheeks blushing until she heard Pinkie Pie’s stifled chortling.

“What?” Twilight asked innocently.

“Is that letter for Rarity?” Pinkie asked with a wry smirk.

“Wh—no!” Twilight denied, clutching the letter to her chest, though after only a second or two, hung her head and muttered “Yeah, it is.”

Pinkie giggled again, her legs kicking into the air, and she had a way of making her laughter spread to others, so Twilight couldn’t help but join in.

“You’ve been in mighty good spirits this morning, Twilight Sparkle!” Pinkie pointed out with a grand smile.

“I guess so,” Twilight said, tapping the tip of her pen against her muzzle. “Your friend Fluttershy is really interesting. I talked to her last night and… she gave me a lot to think about.”

“Oh yeah?” Pinkie smirked and leaned in closer. “What kinda thinking are you thinking?”

“Well, um,” Twilight hesitated, and she let her thumb rub across the old parchment in her hands. “It’s kinda— I dunno how to explain exactly.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how exactly to explain the nuances of her conversation with Fluttershy to Pinkie, or where to even begin. She knew the details of what they talked about were a little outside the scope of the average Equestrian pony.

“It’s a work in progress, let’s just leave it at that.”

“Fine, fine,” Pinkie waved dismissively, but she perked right back up again and leaned over the space between the two cabin benches with her hands on her knees. “So what’s in the letter? What are you telling Rarity about?”

“Wh—you can’t read my letter! It’s private!” Twilight said, aghast as she pulled the note away from Pinkie Pie, her cheeks blazing a furious red.

“Pfft, you’re no fun,” Pinkie scoffed and leaned back onto her bench, crossing her arms and puffing up her cheeks.

“Well you are fun,” Twilight said petulantly, “and I had a really good time with you today! So there!” Twilight harrumphed and turned her head away from Pinkie for good measure, momentarily musing that she probably looked just like Rarity for a second.

“Y’know, the way you were putting so much sass into that,” Pinkie giggled, “I kinda expected something a little more, uh, not super kind and nice? That was really sweet though!”

“You’re really sweet,” Twilight crossed her arms and turned her nose up at Pinkie, but it was when Twilight stuck her tongue out that both women lost it and erupted into a fit of giggles.

“So, wait,” Pinkie said confusedly, “how are you gonna send Rarity that letter? I mean, by the time it reaches her, won’t she already be back in Canterlot?”

“Oh, I have a spell for that,” Twilight said confidently. “In fact, I’m almost finished writing it, so just give me a second, okay?”

Pinkie nodded and hummed quietly to herself, the perfect accompaniment for Twilight’s scratching pen as she put the finishing touches on the letter to Rarity, closing the letter off by signing it “Your faithful librarian, Twilight Sparkle,” and something about looking at that part made Twilight smile fondly.

Twilight folded the parchment and sealed it inside a lavender envelope. She had several of them that Rarity had given her, “in case we ever want to send each other letters, darling!” Twilight hadn’t even told Rarity of her letter-sending spell, so it was just good fortune that Rarity had such a peculiar sense for what gifts to give.

Twilight opened the train window, then held the envelope in front of her eyes and breathed a deep violet flame that burned the envelope to ash, the remains being swept up and carried out the window and off into the wind by her flames, where it would eventually locate Rarity and reform into the letter for her to read.

Twilight was smiling and feeling rather proud of herself as she shut the window and watched the letter take flight, but her stomach dropped when she looked at Pinkie Pie staring at her in stunned silence, a decidedly shaken expression on her face.

“Are you—Pinkie, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked concernedly, her heart starting to race.

“Uh, nothing,” Pinkie shook her head and slapped herself on the cheeks a few times, “nothing, nothing. Don’t worry about it! Just had a bad memory is all!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Twilight said dourly. If she had known Pinkie Pie had an aversion to flame, she would have gone someplace else to cast the spell.

“It’s totally okay,” Pinkie said, though Twilight wasn’t entirely convinced, “you couldn’t have know that—uh, hm…”

“Pinkie?” Twilight’s heart started to race once more. “Everything okay?”

“Can I ask you something?” Pinkie said seriously, her head turned downward, almost as if she were avoiding Twilight’s gaze.

“Uh, okay. Go for it.”

“What were you and Fluttershy talking about last night?” Pinkie said coldly.

Oh.

Oh.

OH.

Oh no.

“Uhm, I’m sorry?” Twilight asked, and she wondered how quickly her fur could be completely soaked in sweat, because she felt like she was already there.

“I know I shouldn’t have,” Pinkie muttered, “but I was listening to you guys last night. I kinda woke up in the middle of the night, and Fluttershy was gone so I went looking for her, and I stumbled onto you guys talking, and I kinda… eavesdropped.” Pinkie threw herself on the ground and bowed. “I’m super duper sorry! I know I shouldn’t have, I just didn’t know what was going on and then some things you guys said had me really worried and I—”

“Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight’s voice brought Pinkie back to her feet, and Twilight put her hands on Pinkie’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said. “Sometimes you stumble onto a situation and you’ve made a choice before you realize it. It happens all the time, and we all make mistakes. I’m not mad at you for listening in.”

You never know who could be listening.

Was that what Fluttershy meant?

“Thank you, Twilight,” Pinkie said, breathing a sigh of relief as she wiped half-formed tears from her eyes. “But, if it’s okay, if you don’t mind, could you answer my question? What were you guys talking about last night?”

“Um, I would answer it,” Twilight thought about recoiling her hands, but she kept them tightly gripped to Pinkie Pie’s shoulders, and she wasn’t sure if that was for her own sake or for Pinkie’s, “if I could, but I’m really not sure what Fluttershy was talking about.”

“Really?” Pinkie asked, shooting Twilight a very skeptical glance.

“It’s obvious that neither Fluttershy or myself are average ponies,” Twilight said, “but we are still just ponies. But I think our, um, strangeness—her connection to the forest and my supernatural talent at magic—keep us a little bit isolated, and we feel the need to hide ourselves, because we worry people won’t understand us.”

“Oh,” Pinkie said, her voice as hollow as a carved-out tree trunk.

“Is everything okay?” Twilight asked nervously. This kind of conversation is exactly the reason why Twilight kept her business to herself; she didn’t want Pinkie to worry unnecessarily, and more than that she didn’t want to lose Pinkie’s friendship.

“I think I get it,” Pinkie said ponderously, taking a step back and away from Twilight’s hands, and putting her own hand to her chin. Pinkie looked at Twilight, and for half a second Twilight felt like she was being interrogated, like Pinkie could see right through her and her disguise. “Are you scared?”

The softness in Pinkie’s voice deteriorated some of Twilight’s guard, but she still didn’t feel out of the woods yet.

“I am,” Twilight had no idea what compelled her to answer honestly, but she felt strongly that no other answer would do.

Pinkie Pie climbed onto Twilight’s bench and, without a word, gave Twilight a tender hug. Twilight hugged her back and felt tears stinging at her eyes.

“You’re safe with me, Twilight,” Pinkie whispered, “cuz we’re friends. And I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to my friends.”

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said softly. “You’re a good friend.”

“You too, Twilight.”

Pinkie hopped back to her bench and hummed a little song, and while the two didn’t talk much on the ride back to Canterlot, Pinkie smiled at Twilight several times, and Twilight didn’t get the sense that anything was wrong between them.

But one question did claw at Twilight’s mind.

How much did Pinkie Pie know?

Twilight had covered all her bases, right? She didn’t say anything to Fluttershy that would have been taken in a negative light, did she? Neither she nor Fluttershy had said even one word specifically about their… similarity. So what did Pinkie know?

Oh well, Twilight supposed that it didn’t really matter. They were friends, and that was that. it wouldn’t do to be suspicious of Pinkie, because there was nothing that she had done that would have caused such a reaction. She was a little weirded out by the out of context conversation she heard between Twilight and Fluttershy.

That was all.

That was all.

…

Right?

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

“You’re safe with me, Twilight,” Pinkie whispered, “cuz we’re friends. And I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to my friends.”

See shit like this? THIS is what I love.

[Timuri]

I'm pretty sure Pinkie figured most of it out with Twilight's messaging spell being the final clue, between the overheard conversation and Twilight's 'spell' and reaction. The bubbly party pony is smarter than most ponies believe.

[AppleTank]

>fire breath
giant eyeballs